Panthera
by Nightshade498
Summary: What if the wolves hadn't saved Bella from Laurent? What if something else had found her in the meadow? And what happens when that something brings Bella into the supernatural world? A Bellice story, T for language and violence
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this idea came to me after reading a whole bunch of awesome AU stories about Bella being something other than human, which makes the love story a bit more exciting in my opinion. Since the idea wouldn't get out of my head I just went with it. This will eventually be a Bellice story, so no worries there. **

**This is an AU story starting out in the time after the Cullens left Forks. I took some liberties with shifter mythology, though I probably won't change anything about the Quileute pack.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, only the few extra characters I threw in.**

* * *

Nine months. It had been a total of nine months since _he_ up and left me. October to June. That's how long I had been moping around like a moron, hoping that he _might_ come back one day. Hell, I could have had a kid in all that time! Not that I would, but still, he would have never known. It took me a whole four months to break out of my catatonic state, and that was more for the sake of my father, who threatened to send me away. However, I knew no matter what I couldn't go back to Arizona. Not only would the heat burn all the memories away, but I couldn't burden my mom like that, she deserved so much better.

That's not to say that my father deserved what I was putting him through. No, Charlie deserved so much better from me, but I couldn't help it. It felt like an entire part of my very being had been ripped out of my body. And it wasn't only the absence of _him_, though it was pathetic that I couldn't even think his name without feeling a deep pain in my chest. No, it was the fact that they all left me without so much as a goodbye.

I expected better from them. Okay, maybe not Rosalie, but the others, especially Alice, who claimed to be my "best friend". Some friend she turned out to be. Running away without even trying to talk to me. Now, I do realize that she had to go with her mate, but you would think that she could of at least talked to me one last time, right?

Somehow I had managed to graduate with relatively good grades, even without feeling a damn thing for the last semester of school. Yes, I had somehow ignored all my pain, did my work, and got my diploma with the rest of my class, a terribly fake smile plastered to my face the entire time. But I didn't celebrate like the others, after all, what did I have to celebrate?

In my bout of depression I had missed the deadlines to apply to all my colleges, so I just decided to take a year off school, to get my head on straight. At least, that's what I told Charlie. In reality I had no idea what the hell I was going to do now. In retrospect, I had been an idiot not planning a future separate from the family that had abandoned me.

Looking back at the past few months, I had to admit that at least one good thing came out of all my pain: Jacob Black. He had become like a personal sun in my life, one piece of happiness to break up all the depression. However, even he had been flighty lately, calling less and less. It was inevitable I guess, that he would leave too. It seemed like anyone close to me had been leaving lately.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to push my thoughts out of my head as I hiked up a trail in the middle of the woods. See, I had been trying to find _The Meadow_ for a while now, hoping that maybe it could give me some closure. Thankfully, for sake of my mental health, I had given up hope that _they_ would come back a while ago. Now I just wanted the pain to go away, even a brief time without it would be a miracle.

But, just like the rest of my life, nothing could be easy. This was the twelfth time I had come into the woods on the grid pattern Jacob had drawn out, back when he would actually come with me. I was probably on my fourth solo hike, and for some reason, this time I had become completely lost. _Once again, nothing's easy…_

A sharp pain in my toe had me cursing and looking down at a log that I had accidentally kicked. _Oh the wonders of being a klutz…_ I growled in my head. Strengthening my resolve, I ignored the pain in my toes and pushed onwards. After about another half an hour of cursing and almost falling over I stumbled face first into an open space.

Looking up I realized that, somehow, I had found it. Before me was an beautiful open space with flowers swaying gently in the breeze, making the whole place look as if it was some sort of brightly colored lake. Letting loose a victorious shout, I pushed myself onto my feet and ran to the center of the space before falling and rolling onto my back. Exhaustion gripped my limbs, the warm sun on my face made me drowsy, and the feeling of accomplishment made this the best moment of my life recently.

So of course something had to shatter it. I heard a loud snap over to my left, followed by a smooth voice calling out to me. Looking over, I saw one of the people that I had guaranteed myself I would never see again. There, walking towards me in a strangely calm manner was Laurent.

"Bella, how nice to see you again." I would never understand how their words sounded so elegant.

"Laurent, what are you doing here?" I sat up quickly, wary of his intentions. He was part of James's coven after all, or an ex-member I guess all things considered.

"Oh, you know. Passing through, seeing the sights, noticing that your coven seems to have left you." His words came out as if he couldn't care less, but I didn't miss the way he stared intently at me as he spoke.

"Their just taking a small hunting trip is all." I tried to lie smoothly, figuring I would be safe if he thought I still mattered to them.

"A hunting trip? One that lasts over nine months?" He mocked me with a laugh. "Sweetheart, don't lie to me, it won't end well."

"You never told me why you're here." I stated. I was surprised that I wasn't more scared for my life. Maybe it was the adrenaline that pumped through my system in response to the two glowing red eyes staring at me, or maybe it was the fact that my self-preservation mechanism was totally messed up when it came to vampires.

"So pushy." He laughed. "Fine, you want to know? Victoria is still a tad pissed at your mate for killing hers. So she wants you dead. A mate for a mate and all that." He dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Just be glad I told her I'd take care of you. She would torture you until you were begging for death, and still keep you alive for a while after. As for me? Well, I'm hungry, and you'll do nicely as a meal."

With that he started languidly walking towards me, making no move to use his ridiculous speed to catch me. On the other hand, I was scrambling up to run, no matter how futile it was. I didn't want to go down without a fight.

As soon as I began to run he was in front of me. Quickly, before I could even register what was going on, he had picked me up by the neck and flung me across the meadow where my back stuck a tree. The bark groaned from the impact, or it could have been me, but before I could figure it out he was upon me again.

"Fine, if you want to struggle I'll have a little fun with you." He grinned and placed a foot on my chest. A split second later a sharp snap resonated around the meadow, more than likely my ribs, and my scream of pain soon followed, echoing around the meadow. Multiple coughs raked through my body, and I felt a warm liquid fall from my parted lips. At the scent of blood Laurent's eyes darkened, and his tongue traced over his lips. I knew that it would be all over soon; that I would be nothing more than a corpse drained dry. He began to lower himself to get access to my neck, staring me in the eye the entire time.

Then, for some unknown reason, he straightened up and backed away, a terrified expression on his face. I was dumbfounded, what could make him not only stop feeding, but terrify him? He was a vampire for god's sake!

I got my answer a second later when an earsplitting snarl sounded through the entire forest. A huge animal soon followed the howl, entering the clearing with its fangs and claws bared and a deep growling resonating in its chest in the most threatening display I had ever seen.

Taking a closer look at the animal, I found I had no idea what in the hell it was. I knew it was a feline of some sort, the features made that clear, but the thing was huge, at the shoulder it was probably five feet tall. A huge, bushy tail, at least the length of the body, swayed behind the cat. Its fur was a deep black on the back, and dark gray on the underbelly and inner legs. The entirety of the pelt was dotted with white and gray open rosettes. It then hit me that the thing looked like a snow leopard with an inverted color scheme, but you know, freaking five feet tall.

Laurent took one look at the monster and turned tail to run, but stopped at the sight before him. Emerging from the trees were a six-foot tall lioness and a leopard at a shoulder height in between its two companions.

Caught in between the three giants Laurent crouched down, no doubt coming to the realization that there was no way he was getting out of here. I felt a tickle on my right arm and looked to see the snow leopard's tail resting on me, but the creature didn't take its gaze off of the vampire. Somehow I knew that it was trying to comfort me, to tell me that I was going to be fine. Or maybe I was going crazy and hallucinating from the injuries I had sustained.

Then, without no much as a sound or a twitch, the two cats at the other end of the clearing leapt in perfect synchronization, the lioness flattening Laurent to the ground, and the leopard sinking its giant fangs into his body. I was amazed as I saw the teeth pierce the flesh I had always believed to be impenetrable. The meadow was suddenly filled with the screams of pain of my would-be attacker, and I found I couldn't look away as the two felines worked together to tear him apart, my stomach turning over at the sight.

A giant, fuzzy black wall suddenly shielded me from the scene. I looked up to see the snow leopard crouching down in front of me, its eyes raking over my body. As I stared into the two pale green orbs I saw a deep intelligence in them, an intelligence that could never belong to a normal animal. It was also then that my body decided it was going to tell me that I was in intense pain. My midsection protested at every breath, I couldn't feel my left arm, and I kept coughing up blood. I hissed in response to the feeling, and I swore I heard the beast hovering over me whimper quietly.

The screams died down, and the two other felines soon joined the strangely colored snow leopard crouching over me. A strange chirping noise came from the lioness, followed by a rumbling growl from the leopard. I was suddenly gripped by the thought that now that their plaything was dead, these two would turn on me next. However, the snow leopard let out a noise similar to a cat's purr, surprising me, and strangely comforting me. The mixture of the noise and the blood loss had my eyelids drooping in fatigue.

I hardly noticed as the snow leopard's head came closer and closer to me, but I definitely noticed when its huge jaws wrapped around my midsection and the sharp fangs sunk into my flesh. I guess I was wrong about it wanting to protect me, now it was going to eat me. _What a wonderful was to go out._

Instead of tearing, or even biting me again, however, the black cat began running its tongue over the wound, and amazingly, I saw that my blood began to flow slower and slower, until it stopped all together. I looked up at the cat again as it lifted its head, and I swore I saw it smirk at me.

The image of three giant felines was the last thing I saw as a sudden blackness overtook my vision, and I slipped into unconsciousness.

**XXXXX**

When a semblance of consciousness came back to me I had the strange sensation of floating. I couldn't feel anything in my body, which made me wonder if I was dead. My limbs wouldn't respond to my thoughts, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my eyes to open.

"How much longer is she going to be out for? This is getting ridiculous." I heard a voice somewhere in the endless blackness. The voice made me hope to hell I wasn't dead, considering it was rough and I could practically feel the irritation of the speaker, who I assumed was female.

"I have no idea. All I have to go on is Danni, and she woke up after a day. But her heart is beating, and that's all that matters. Now if you're really that bored, go out for a run or something." Another voice spoke. This one was much more pleasant to listen to, belonging to another woman by the sound of it. Her voice was smooth and calm, yet commanded respect from the first girl.

"Fine, I'll go find Danni." The rough voice said.

"I'd rather her first experience with you two not be…" the pleasant voice trailed off, no doubt the owner trying to figure out how to word something correctly, "unsettling."

"Dear Goddess, I'm not planning on having sex with her, I just wanted some company." The first girl growled.

"Sorry, but I know I've had to listen to you two before, and it's not exactly the most fun thing to do."

"Pervert."

"It's not my fault Danni gets you to scream so loud." The second girl retorted, sounding rather smug.

"I hate you a little bit. You know that, right?"

"Love you too Rikki. Now get out of here."

Soon after I heard footsteps fading the darkness seemed to invade my senses, and I was pulled into a blissful unconsciousness once more.

**XXXXX**

The next time I came into consciousness I found I could open my eyes, thankfully. As I opened them I noticed that I was in a very unfamiliar room, with an unfamiliar girl sitting next to my bed, staring into space. I moved my head to get a better look at her, but as soon as I moved she was pulled back from her thoughts and looked right at me.

Her eyes were the first things that stuck me. Staring at me were two bright greenish-gold orbs, immediately making me think of a cat. Next thing I noticed was how sharp her features were. She seemed to be made of angles and nothing else. Long black hair hung to the middle of her back in a perfectly straight sheet.

"So you're finally up, huh?" She spoke, and I was struck with the realization that she was the owner of the rough voice from the last time I was semi-conscious.

"Who-?" I tried to ask, but my voice came out scratchy, getting stuck in my throat.

"Rikki." She answered simply, providing no other information. As she stood up and I noticed just how tall she was. She stood well over six feet, and muscle filled out her whole frame.

"Rik, who're you talkin' to?" Another voice called out from the other side of me.

I turned to see a girl enter the room, the first thing going through my head was that she was the polar opposite of the first girl. She was probably just over five feet tall, with shaggy dirty-blonde hair that didn't even reach her shoulders. Her eyes were a pretty hazel, but much more brown then green. Where the first girl, Rikki I guess, was all sharp angles, this girl seemed to be more curved; yet upon closer inspection I could tell she was just as muscled as the first girl. Really, she was probably the most adorable girl I had ever seen in my life. She also reminded me of a particular pixie, but I refused to let my mind settle on that topic.

"Oh, you're awake." She grinned at me as she pranced over to Rikki's side.

"Um…" I stuttered, very unsure what was going on.

"Sorry, this is probably really freaky, isn't it? I'm Danni, and this," she motioned to the tall girl, "is Rikki."

"Where am I?" I couldn't help it; it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Somewhere safe." A third voice sounded out. This one was also familiar; I immediately recognized it as the other voice from the conversation from earlier. Looking over at her, my jaw dropped slightly.

Standing at a height just under six feet, this girl had long wavy light blonde hair that reached under her shoulders, with a single black streak on the left side, opposite of the bangs hanging at an angle to the right side of her face. Two bright blue eyes studied me as I studied her, and an eyebrow rose in questioning. Running along the left side of her face, barely missing her eye was a scar, slightly faded over time, that ran from her hairline into her shirt. Just like the other two girls she was subtly muscular, and gave off a slightly wild aura.

But it wasn't her appearance that had me at a loss for words, but even I had to admit she was rather breathtaking, no it was the distinct feeling that I knew exactly who she was. The strange feeling that she was a familiar, and even comforting presence in my life.

"I'm Katherine, but everyone here just calls me Kat." She walked up to the bed and sat down on the corner, eying me carefully. "Now Bella, I need you to tell me what you can remember, then I can explain everything."

"What I remember?" I thought back to the last time I was awake and moving around. "I went for a hike, and found the meadow I was looking for. Then someone came to the meadow." I was hesitant to continue; worried that they would think I was crazy.

"Bella, we know all about vampires, you don't have to worry about sharing that secret." Kat prompted.

"Oh… Well, then, a vampire came into the clearing. He was going to kill me, I remember him hurting me. Then… I remember something coming to save me, but… it can't be possible."

"I assure you, if it seems impossible to humans, it probably is possible to the supernatural community." Kat smirked.

"Three giant cats came out of the woods and saved me." I muttered.

"Right."

"You're the cats, aren't you?" The realization hit me.

"Yes, now what else do you remember?" Kat asked, clearly wanting me to continue and not dwell on the fact that the three girls in the room with me could turn into giant felines.

"Then one bit me…" The memory came rushing back. "Why aren't I in a coma or something? I remember so much pain and blood." I sat up, examining myself. There was no pain from my arm or ribs; the only strange thing was a slight tingling on my right side. Rolling up my shirt I let out a gasp. Marring my side was the distinct pattern of a bite mark, already scarred over.

"The bite healed all your wounds, that's why I did it. Sadly, all changed cats bear their mark for life. That'll most likely be the only injury you ever carry with you permanently." She explained to me.

"Changed cats? What the hell does that even mean? And what do you mean the only injury I'll ever carry? If you're a 'cat' why do you have that scar?" I shot off questions at the girl.

"One question at a time." She laughed at my panic, which made me slightly angry, but she ignored that and continued. "To answer your question about my scar, well, there are certain things that will scar our skin, other shifters for one, but hopefully you'll never have to deal with that. Now what would you like to know next?"

"What are you?" I figured I'd get right to it considering they were obviously not human.

"We've been called many things. Werebeasts, werecats, demons, monsters, gods, but in reality we are shapeshifters. Humans granted the ability to hold the form of animals." She explained.

"Alright, you mentioned something about the bite healing me, what's that all about?"

"As far as I know, every race of shapeshifters is different. A benefit of our particular type is the ability to change humans into shifters. Once the virus has infected a human the body's physiology is changed to that of a shifter's, which includes the ability to repair itself very quickly. In essence, a bite from a shifter can heal almost anything."

"So you infected me?" I blanched at the realization.

"I had to." For the first time Kat's voice broke and I was struck with the memory of the snow leopard whimpering in response to my pain. "You were dying. That leech broke your ribs so that both of your lungs were punctured and filling with blood. Mixed with the fact that your shoulder and arm were shattered and the almost asphyxiation you suffered, there was no way you could have made it to the hospital in time. Also…"

"Also what?" I prompted, feeling anger rise in me. This girl owed me an explanation _now_.

"I don't know how to explain it, but when I saw you something in me was pulled to you. I couldn't let you die, and I didn't even know you." She tried to explain.

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

"We don't know." Rikki spoke up for the first time, pulling my attention away from Kat. "But you should have heard her when she saw you lying there dying. It was pathetic."

"Rikki, it was not pathetic, it was sweet! Honestly I thought she had found her Imprint for a while there." Danni chastised the other girl, smacking her arm.

"Imprint?" I asked, picking out the one word that seemed very important for some reason.

"Do you believe in soul mates?" Kat asked from the foot of the bed, staring at the wall instead of me.

"Yes." I answered without a second of consideration.

"Well that makes that easier. See, with shifters, we know the exact moment we meet our soul mate. It's like an unstoppable pull towards that person. The drive to be with, protect, provide, and be whatever they need you to be. We feel that like a punch to the heart when we meet our Imprint."

"Am I your Imprint?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I was, I mean, I wasn't even into girls as far as I knew.

"No." She answered, looking back to me with a small sad smile. "No, but I thought you were for a little while. For some reason I had a pull to you, but it was nothing like those two dorks described the Imprint bond as." She motioned to the other two shifters.

"Wait, you two are…"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Rikki growled at me.

"No! No, it's just, you two seem so opposite. It's hard to imagine you two together." I quickly explained, not wanting a pissed off shifter on my hands.

"Rikki, don't go off on the poor girl. She's still probably in shock!" Danni told the tall girl, and then turned to address me. "Don't worry about it, nobody ever thinks we're together."

"Anyway, the pull Kat felt towards you felt similar to the Imprint bond." Rikki told me.

"Yeah, it felt like a fraction of the pull that Rikki and I feel towards each other." Danni explained.

"What does that mean?" I asked Kat.

"No idea. We've never come across something like this before. But were getting off topic. The main thing is that now you're a shifter like us, and you have a decision to make. You can go out on your own, and try to figure all this out, or you can join our pride." Kat told me.

"Your pride?"

"Well, the only social big cat is the lion, and groups of lions are called prides." Kat explained with a small laugh.

"It's also kind of a joke considering we're all so out and proud." Danni said, sitting herself down on the bed across from Kat.

"Oh, that's actually kind of funny." I laughed for the first time since I had woken up. Actually it was the first time I had laughed in a really long time, and it felt damn good.

I then realized what that meant about the blonde girl sitting on the foot of my bed. My gaze met hers, and a strange fluttering began in my stomach, though I had no idea what it meant. Kat, upon noticing me staring at her, threw a smirk at me, causing a blush to cover my cheeks.

"The full moon is tomorrow, and that'll be the first day you shift, so you can figure out what you want to do then." Kat told me, thankfully choosing to ignore my blush.

"Wait, you have to shift on a full moon? Like werewolves?" I asked.

"Yes, _we_ do. The werewolf myth had to come from somewhere. Humans tend to take small pieces and parts from various supernaturals to put together their stories."

"Okay then." With my curiosity sated for now I didn't know what else to say. Then a thought hit me; Charlie. "Um, does my dad know where I am?"

"He thinks that you're in a group home." Rikki deadpanned.

"What? Why?"

"Bella, you've been out for five days, we needed some story to cover up your disappearance. After asking around town we got a pretty good picture of your mental health these past few months, so the story of a mental breakdown was believable. Your dad thinks you're in therapy for abandonment issues." Kat explained calmly, trying to keep me level.

"And he just went with that?" I asked, wondering why he wouldn't want to see me.

"As far as he knows, any contact with your past could relapse you in the next two weeks. That gives us enough time to familiarize you with what you are. Then you can go back to him." Danni told me, squeezing my leg in a comforting gesture.

"Or you could just stay with us." Kat added with a smile. "It would be easier to be around people you don't have to hide from."

"That's a lot to think about." I said.

"Of course. Take your time; we'll leave you in peace for now. But tomorrow, be ready." Kat patted my leg before getting up to leave, Rikki and Danni soon following.

Feeling a sudden fatigue wash over me, I settled back into the pillows, deciding to sleep on all the information that was given to me. But I couldn't stop freaking about tomorrow, and what shifting would bring into my life. Eventually the fatigue won out, and I was thrust into a dreamland full of running felines and a set of glowing green eyes.

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think! I have a bit more already written, but feedback would be really helpful, whether positive or negative!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Holy damn guys, I woke up this morning and was so surprised at the wonderful reception that this story has so far! It made me smile like an idiot for the longest time, and I'm really happy my roommate isn't here, or else she'd think I was crazy.**

**I got a few comments/questions about Bella and Kat's bond, and I don't want to spoil it yet, but it's not an Imprint. Also someone asked about it being a "sibling bond" and it definitely isn't that, because for one Kat is a bit too old to be Bella's sister, and two, it would be kinda creepy for the story. You will find out eventually, but I can't tell you guys when the poor pride doesn't even know yet, that wouldn't be fair!**

**And I still don't own Twilight**

* * *

Promptly at nine the next morning I was woken up by a ball of energy jumping up and down on the bed. My eyes shot open to see Danni smiling brightly at me, informing me that we had to leave in a half hour. Groggily, I pulled myself out of the bed and noticed a pile of clothes set out on a chair next to the bed. Changing quickly, I made my way down downstairs to find the three shifters sitting at the table, stuffing their faces. This made me realize just how hungry I was, and I quickly sat down and began to eat as well, not even nervous or uncomfortable in their presence.

It wasn't until four pancakes, six strips of bacon, and two huge scoops of eggs ha disappeared from my plate that I realized I had eaten enough to feed a small army. I must have looked rather confused because Danni immediately answered my unasked question.

"Our metabolism is really, really fast, so we have to eat a lot more to have energy. Don't worry, you get used to it. That and you have been out for five days."

"Oh." Really I was starting to hate that word, as it seemed to make up the majority of my vocabulary lately.

"Now put your dishes in the dishwasher and head out to the car, we have to get going." Kat said while getting up.

Twenty minutes later we were all sitting in a Jeep, driving towards a mountain range that was about two hours away, Danni and Rikki in the back and me sitting in the passenger seat next to Kat, who was driving.

"We're still in Forks?" I asked once I noticed a few familiar landmarks.

"Yeah. Why, did you think we took you far away or something?" Kat asked.

"I don't know." I trailed off, not knowing how to continue. "So why do we have to go to the mountains to shift?" I asked, pulling my gaze away from the window.

"Three reasons." Kat answered. "One, I don't fare well in the woods when it comes to hunting. Snow leopards are made for climbing and jumping, so I hunt in the mountains, while Danni and Rikki hunt in the woods surrounding the base. We'll have to see where you'll hunt as soon as we figure out what you are.

"Two, you won't have a great amount of control right away, so we want to avoid any mishaps with hunters. Better for your psyche if you don't have a hunter's blood on you when you shift back.

"And three, there's a pack of wolf shifters running around by our place, and I don't know if they're hostile yet. I'm gonna have to talk to their Alpha soon, but we're still settling in."

"Wolf shifters?"

"They're like us, only they turn into wolves." Danni supplied, leaning her chin up on the headrest of my seat.

"Also, how long have you guys been here? I mean, I haven't heard anything about you, and Forks is such a small town that news travels far too fast."

"We got here about a week before the meadow incident. Honestly, we figured that Forks, being such a small town, would be a quiet and peaceful place to stay for a while. Boy were we wrong." Kat chuckled.

"Well, for my sake I'm glad you chose Forks." I told them, shifting my gaze back to the window.

Eventually we made it to a place Kat could park the car, but I was then informed that we had a hike ahead of us to get into a place free of any people. Surprisingly the hike was easy for me, I didn't even trip over any branches or logs. I guess being turned into a shapeshifter wasn't all bad after all. Our little group walked for a while, long enough that the sun was beginning to sink into the horizon by the time Kat stopped in a small clearing.

"This looks good." Kat declared, dropping a duffel bag that held clothes for all of us for tomorrow.

"What happens now?" I asked, looking around the area.

"Now we have some fun." Rikki said, and when I looked over at her I saw a strange gleam in her eyes.

"What she means is, now it's time to shift." Danni explained.

"Now Bella, the first time you shift will be a little terrifying. It feels like your body is exploding and something is taking you over. As much as you will want to fight it, you need to give in to the cat, alright?" Kat explained, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"Is it painful?" I asked hesitantly, getting a little nervous.

"Not at all. In fact it's rather liberating." Kat assured me. "You ready?"

"I think so."

"Good." Kat stepped back, then, out of nowhere, took off her shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice reflecting my panic.

"Did you think your clothes would just magically shift with you?" Kat asked with a laugh, pulling off her shorts.

Looking around, I was suddenly surrounded by three women standing only in their underwear, staring at me expectantly. Against my will my eyes were drawn to Kat, and I noticed that she had quite a few scars on her stomach, legs, and shoulders in the shape of claw and teeth marks. She must have noticed me staring because she suddenly cleared her throat to get my attention.

"You'd be surprised how harsh the world is when you're alone. Just remember that." She commented cryptically. Turning her back to me, she revealed four long scars that went from her left shoulder to her right hip. She then unhooked her bra, took off her underwear, and with a joyful howl, seemed to explode into the large black snow leopard from the meadow.

I turned to look to my right when I heard another yowl, seeing the giant lioness staring at me. Figuring it was Rikki, after all she was the tallest of the pride, I looked for Danni, but was surprised to see Rikki standing next to the lioness before she too transformed. Three giant felines were then staring at me expectantly, but I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

Having no idea what to do, I looked up to see the moon shining in the sky, and was suddenly filled with a strange sensation. It was as if the moon was calling me, or something deep inside me, to come out. A snarl resonated from deep within me, and before I could think I was stripping off my clothes. I soon stood fully nude, staring up at the moon, letting its call bring out the beast begging to escape.

A strange tugging began in my chest, and soon overtook my whole body. It felt like my skin was too small for me, that I needed to break free somehow. So that's exactly what I did. It felt like I literally exploded from the inside, and before I really knew what happened, I was standing on four legs, looking around at a forest that seemed to be much more in focus than it was before.

_"You took to shifting rather well."_ I suddenly heard Kat's voice inside my head.

_What's going on?_ I thought, more to myself, but was answered anyway.

_"Shifters in a group, whether it be a pack or a pride have a mental connection with one another. It allows them to coordinate and work together when they can't talk."_ That voice definitely belonged to Danni, and I looked over towards the lioness, surprised when I saw I was at eye level with her.

_"Sometimes it's annoying, but it can come in handy."_ Kat commented, walking up to me. It was strange, I had to look down at her to look in her eyes. _"It's not my fault that snow leopards are shorter than panthers…"_

_Is that what I am?_

_"Yep! A big ol' black panther."_ Danni answered me.

I looked down at myself, lifting a paw and turning in a circle to see all of me. It was true, I was indeed a panther, complete with black fur and a subtle rosette pattern marking my fur.

_"So now that we know what you are, you get to hunt in the forest. Big cats normally hunt alone, but Danni and Rikki can give you some tips. We'll meet back here when we catch something."_ Kat told me.

_Wait, we actually hunt and eat wild animals?_

_"We are giant predators, what did you expect?"_ Rikki snidely asked.

_"If you don't hunt you get really irritable and you feel really bad the next morning." _Danni informed me, nudging me softly with her head.

_"Circle of life Bella. Just remember that."_ Kat supplied before slipping off in the direction of the mountains.

_"Come on, I'll show you the best places to hunt, but after that it's up to you."_ Rikki said before slinking away into the trees. I really had no choice but to follow her, swallowing whatever reservations I may have had. They were right, something in me, maybe the giant panther, told me that it was natural, that it was needed. So, trusting the cat, I followed the leopard and lioness into the woods to start my life as a shifter.

**XXXXX**

I woke the next morning to a pounding headache and a terrible wave of nausea. Trying to remember the night before, all I could pull up were flashes of the forest flying by, tracking a herd of deer, and my cat playing around with Danni. Other than those brief moments I couldn't remember what I had done the night before, and it scared me slightly.

However a new sensation overtook the fear, and realizing that I was about to loose anything I had in my stomach, I shot up and made my way to the edge of the clearing to empty my stomach into the bushes. A hand suddenly began rubbing soothing patterns up and down my back, and another moved to hold my hair as I spit the vile taste out of my mouth.

"I guess I should have warned you, the first time your body changes back your stomach doesn't bode so well." I heard Kat whisper in my ear.

"That would have been nice to know." I groaned, feeling the urge to vomit again.

"Just let it all out. It'll pass soon enough." She reassured me, continuing the gentle rubbing on my back. Eventually the nausea subsided, and I ended up collapsing right into her. "Whoa there." She chuckled as she maneuvered herself so that she was sitting with me in her lap.

"Why can't I remember last night?" I looked up at her.

"I told you, you don't have full control of the cat for the first few shifts. In all honesty, you may never have complete control over her. Eventually your mind will be dominant in feline form, but her instincts will control the majority of your actions." She told me, running her hands through my hair to calm me.

"So even you don't have full control?"

"No. But I've learned to fight the instincts, so I can get control even in the worst situations. But that came with a hell of a lot of time." She looked away, deep in thought.

"How long have you been a shapeshifter?" I asked, noticing she appeared to be my age.

"Technically always. My parents were feline shapeshifters, so I am too, but our kind doesn't shift for the first time until the first full moon after we turn 16. So I've been shifting for about 30 years now."

"30 years?!" I exclaimed.

"Shapeshifters don't age as long as we are actively changing forms. Born shifters, like Rikki and me, age until about 19 or 20, then just stop. And since our kind has to shift on the full moon we'll never grow old. It's why we move around so much." She explained.

"So I'll be this age forever?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes. But don't worry, I'll always be there for you." Kat assured me, burrowing her face in my neck in an affectionate gesture. I was surprised at how quickly she seemed to have taken to me.

"Are you always this motherly?" I chuckled weakly.

"I'm the Alpha. It's my job to take care of my cats." She laughed right back. When I made a move to get up she let me go, and I had to force myself not to stare at her naked form as she stood up. We began walking back towards Danni and Rikki, who had snuggled up close to each other in their sleep. "And trust me," Kat threw over her shoulder with a smirk, "that was far from motherly."

Blood immediately rushed to my cheeks, and the strange fluttering came back in my stomach, only ten fold. It especially didn't help when she sauntered over to the duffle bag to get a new set of clothes. Choosing to ignore the feelings, I simply walked over and grabbed my own set of clothes before getting dressed, not glancing at Kat once.

_Stupid weird shifter feelings…_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Real quick, cause some people have expressed some concern over it, this will NOT be a threesome story, I promise. It will be a AlicexBella story only. These chapters are the setup to the real story, the stuff that happens before all the relationship stuff. So bear with that, and I promise there will be some Bellice interaction in the next chapter.**

**I still don't own Twilight**

* * *

Warm sunlight streamed in from the window in my bedroom, waking me up in a rather pleasant way. I let loose a yawn and slowly opened my eyes. It had been three months since the pride had taken me out to the woods to shift for the first time, and I had definitely grown since then, in far more ways than one.

For starters, my frame had filled in with muscle; a trait I found was present in all shifters. I had also grown a few inches, but I was still the shortest in the group after little Danni. My strength had grown exponentially, and I found myself wondering just how strong I was in comparison to other types of supernaturals, vampires especially.

Speaking of those _wonderful_ creatures, the pride had definitely helped me with my "abandonment issues" as they called them. The thought of the Cullens no longer punched a hole in my chest, sure there was still a lingering ache, but it was bearable. I was able to move on and focus on other things in my life.

Speaking of other things in my life, the wonderful girl in my arms chose that moment to snuggle closer to my chest, then let out a huge yawn.

"Morning Kitty Kat." I chuckled at her as she blearily opened her eyes.

"You know I hate it when you call me that." She scoffed, pushing herself up and placing a quick kiss to my lips.

"That's why I love doing it." I retorted, pulling her face down to mine to silence the comeback she had planned.

"Well when you put it that way…" Kat mumbled against my mouth.

See, my relationship with Kat came as a huge surprise to everyone, especially her and me. When I finally realized what that stupid fluttering in my stomach was, and told my Alpha she seemed just as confused as me, she didn't think I was into girls any more than I thought I was. But eventually we worked through that, and became rather happy together. In fact, I was happy enough to take the relationship public, pleasantly surprised at the overall acceptance we had received from the residents of Forks. All in all, I think people were just happy to see me in a state other than deep depression.

The girl in question snuggled up against me once more and a noise began to rumble in her chest, akin to a cat's purr. I had been surprised when I found she could make that sound in her human form, and it was a personal mission of mine to get her to do it in public places because it made her get all flustered and embarrassed, which was adorable. My favorite time was when I got her to do it in the grocery store by scratching the base of her skull, and at least eight people gave her a weird look, prompting her to blush furiously and me to bust up laughing.

"Bella! Kat! Time to wake up!" Rikki's voice called out from behind our door.

"No." Kat mumbled into my shoulder, but I knew Rikki could hear her.

"Yes. You two are having lunch with Charlie in an hour, and then we're going out for a run, remember?"

"Damn, she's right." I muttered, pulling the covers off of us.

"Do we have to? It's so warm and comfy here." Kat looked up at me pleadingly.

"Kitty, you know that we leave Forks in two days. My dad wants to see me before we go." I pushed her off and began to gather clothes to get changed.

"I know, I know. Sorry, it's just, I don't really remember what it's like to worry about family…" I turned to see Kat staring into space, no doubt remembering her rather painfully colorful past.

"Hey," I walked up and turned her face so that she was looking at me, "we're your family now. Don't forget that." She smiled in response and I placed a quick peck on her lips before thrusting clothes into her arms.

After 45 minutes we were finally ready to head out and pick up my father for lunch. He was sitting on the porch of my old house, and broke out into a huge grin when he saw us pull up.

"Hey Bells. Katherine. How are you today?" He asked as he got into the car.

"We're good. How are you dad?" I responded, looking back at him as Kat drove to the diner in town.

"A little sad that you're leaving so soon, but still happy for you." He answered truthfully, a small sad smile on his face. We soon got to the diner and were seated by a waitress that knew us, and our order, by heart. She told us that she'd be back soon with our drinks, throwing a wink at Charlie before walking away. He blushed fiercely before clearing his throat and striking up conversation. "Are you all packed? Do you need any help moving anything?"

"Dad, we've got everything covered." I laughed.

"I know, I just guess I don't really want to see you go…"

"We've talked about this dad, it's a wonderful opportunity, and I'll be helping a lot of people." I gently told him.

"Bella's story is an inspirational one. Overcoming such a crippling depression and moving forward with her life was a huge accomplishment. So many troubled teens will benefit from her talks." Kat supplied, even though we had already been over this.

There was a clear reason why we had to leave, but we couldn't exactly tell Charlie. In reality, the wolf shifters had apparently decided that the new strange scent in their territory was a threat, and had been getting closer and closer to finding our pride. Luckily they hadn't figured out who we were as humans yet, but it was only a matter of time. So Kat helped me come up with a story about how my "group home" wanted me to travel and talk to other troubled kids to help them move through their problems.

"And I'm so proud of her for doing that. That doesn't mean I won't miss my little girl." Charlie explained.

Our food came out then, and we turned our attention to the meal, making small talk occasionally. We soon finished the meal and headed out to the car, Kat driving us back to Charlie's house. When we got there I got out of the car to give my dad a hug, surprised when he hugged me rather tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you Bells. Take care of yourself while on the road, and don't do anything crazy." He muttered into my hair.

"I'll miss you too dad." I smiled at him when he finally let me go. He then told me to stay there for a second and went over to Kat's window. I guess he thought it would be a private conversation, but with my senses, I could hear the whole thing.

"Katherine, I want you to promise me that you'll take care of Bella while you all are gone."

"Sir, I promise you that I'll never let anything happen to her. I love your daughter and would do anything to protect her." Kat guaranteed him, the sincerity in her voice making my heart do little flutters.

"I'm so glad that she had you to help her through her problems, and that she has you now." He told her.

"Trust me, I'm just as glad to have her." I could practically hear the dreamy smile in the blonde's voice.

"Alright Bella, I'm all done talking to Katherine." Charlie walked over and patted my shoulder.

"I love you dad." I hugged him quickly before taking off to the car.

"Love you too Bella." I heard him say to my retreating figure as I got into the car.

"Ready for a run?" Kat asked as we drove off.

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna miss this place when we go. It'll be nice to have one last run through the woods." I said as I watched the town speed by.

"We may be able to come back one day." Kat tried.

"It won't be for a couple decades though. Can't have anyone recognizing us, right?" I laughed humorlessly. Sometimes I got a little bitter over the things I had to give up as a shifter.

"Bella…"

"Don't worry about me." I looked over and put my hand on her shoulder. "It's just going to take some getting used to is all."

"If you're sure." She muttered as we pulled up to the house in the middle of the woods.

"I'm sure. Now let's go, it's time to say goodbye to this place." Kat followed me out of the car, but before we even got to the door Danni and Rikki were rushing outside to meet us.

"About time." Rikki scoffed as she began to walk into the woods.

"How was lunch?" Danni asked, walking backwards to follow her mate and to talk to us simultaneously.

"Fine. Charlie's a bit sad I'm leaving, but he's not putting up any resistance." I answered.

"That's good." Danni said before turning around and speeding up her pace to catch up to the tall girl who hadn't slowed her pace to let us catch up. Rolling my eyes, I also sped up to catch up, Kat following my lead.

We soon made it to a small clearing where we wasted no time in stripping down and shifting into our feline forms. Luckily I had gotten used to the whole nudity thing over the past couple months, and now it seemed like nothing.

_"There's a scent of leech near."_ I heard Rikki growl mentally and heard the leopard next to me emit a low growling as well.

_"Again? That's the fourth one this month! What is going on with them?"_ Kat growled back.

_Maybe it's because the Cullens left. Maybe they want to take the territory._ I suggested.

_"Whatever the reason, we need to take care of the parasite. Lead the way Rikki."_ Kat told her. Rikki nodded and took off into the woods.

After a little while of running through the woods I started to pick up the scent of the vampire. Like all vampires the scent was sickly sweet, yet slightly rotten, as though someone let a giant pile of candy and sweets out in the sun for too long and it just melted into one nasty mess and went bad. It wasn't much longer until I heard the vampire moving around in a clearing up ahead.

Slowly and silently, the four of us crept to the edge of the clearing, staying hidden, but getting a good look at our prey. Just like any vampire she was strikingly beautiful, though I found now their beauty didn't shock me, instead it reminded me of what they were, making my body vibrate with a rage built into the very essence of our species. The vampire wasn't tall, probably five and a half feet, with auburn hair and gentle features. I also noticed that her eyes were a strange color, predominantly red with a slight undertone of gold.

_"She's all alone… Poor her."_ Rikki mocked as she flexed her claws in anticipation.

_"Are we just going to stand here?"_ Danni asked impatiently. The first vampire we faced I was surprised at how eager the tiny girl was to kill, but soon found that the instincts of all shapeshifters drive them to kill vampires, and since she was a changed shifter like me she didn't have perfect control over those instincts.

_"On my count. Three… two… one… NOW!"_ The four of us burst from the trees, terrifying the lone vampire in the clearing and causing her to turn and run.

_"I'll give her this, she's smarter than some others we've taken down."_ Rikki thought with a savage laugh. The hunt tended to pull out the most primal sides of all of our pride.

_"Why do I feel like she's leading us somewhere?"_ Kat sounded weary all of the sudden.

_We could run ahead._ I suggested, feeling a little bad for doing so, but the rest of us were faster than Kat, whose snow leopard had shorter legs than our feline forms.

_"No. If she is really leading us then I don't want us separated. Especially you Bella, considering you've never fought a leech one on one."_

_"Besides, we're catching up."_ Danni thought with a mental grin.

Sadly, we found Kat was right as we burst through the tree line right on the vampire's heels. Standing there were three other vampires, three other vampires that I recognized sickingly well.

_"Shit!"_ The curse seemed to come from both Rikki and Kat at the same time, but I hardly noticed.

Instead my eyes were locked on a particular vampire in the group. Bronze hair, chiseled features, and a stupid crooked smirk stared back at me as my entire body began to literally vibrate in rage.

_"We have a shot, but we have to be smart about this. Rikki will take the biggest one, and I'll take the blonde that's all scarred up. Danni can take the brown haired male, and Bella can take the female. But be careful Bella, I would just keep her busy until one of us can help you."_ Kat was rattling off instructions in my head, but I couldn't focus.

It was as if a red haze had covered my vision, but strangely the panther wasn't in control, I was. My anger was fueling me, not the shapeshifter's instinctual rage.

_"Bella, are you even listening?"_ Kat asked, but I ignored it, instead crouching down and letting out an earsplitting roar. _"What's going- Bella, are those your leeches?"_ I tensed; ready to pounce on the fucker who abandoned me all that time ago. Turns out I hadn't moved on from the pain, I had just shifted it to anger. _"BELLA, YOU WILL NOT ATTACK THAT MALE UNLESS HE ATTACKS FIRST!"_ The command shot through my system, leaving me unable to move, to leap like I so wanted to.

_"What's her deal?"_ Rikki asked, keeping an eye on the vampires in from of us.

_"That's the one that left her."_ Danni explained.

_"Well then, this fight'll be fun."_ Rikki thought, feral glee flowing through the bond.

Just as the thought sounded through our minds four more vampire entered the clearing. I figured it was the rest of the Cullens, but I was simply going on sound and scent considering I was still glaring at Edward with hate clouding my vision.

_"No, this fight would be suicide…"_ Kat muttered. I simply let out another snarl, beyond frustrated that I couldn't move. _"Bella, I want you to look anywhere but him, alright. I won't order you, because you know how much I hate that, but I really, really want you to try. I don't know, look at the little one. You always said she was your friend."_

Grudgingly I complied, knowing that displays of aggression would drive the Cullens to attack us all, and I didn't want to be the cause of any of my pride-mates being seriously injured or even killed. So I turned my gaze and swept it over the line standing in front of me, noticing them all tensed and ready to attack at a moment's notice. I saw Rosalie, still as beautiful as ever, Emmett, still a giant beast of a man, and then I saw little Alice.

My head suddenly stopped moving; my gaze never met the next vampire's in the row due to the strangest sensation assaulting me. It was as if someone had literally lit a fire in my chest, and it spread to ever fiber of my body, only I felt no pain. All the rage suddenly flushed from my mind, my vision going back to normal and focusing on the tiny pixie crouching and growling with the rest of her family. She was a threat to my family, and I should have returned the growl, but I couldn't, I couldn't do anything to relax my body and fight the urge to walk up to her and nuzzle her.

A loud whimper broke all my thoughts, mainly due to the fact that it was the most pain-filled noise I had ever heard from any creature in my entire life. My head whipped over to see Kat staring at me, ears flat against her head and mouth hung open, tail between her legs. If tears could be coming out of her eyes I knew they would be.

_What's going on?!_ I thought in a panic, hating the expression on her face.

_"You just Imprinted. On the leech."_ Rikki told me when it was apparent Kat couldn't speak.

_That can't be right!_

"One of you mongrels just Imprinted on Alice?!" We all turned to see Edward yelling at the pride.

_"How does he know that?"_ Danni asked, all fight seemingly drained from her.

"Edward, calm down. I'm not sure if that's what it was. It just seemed similar to what the Wolves described it as." Carlisle tried to calm his adoptive son down.

"What is Imprinting?" A high voice, like ringing bells to my ears, asked. I looked over to see Alice looking between her family and us quickly. I'm sure that if I was still human I wouldn't even be able to track the movement it was so quick.

"I think that our two groups need to have a discussion." Carlisle addressed us, ignoring his daughter's question. Kat stepped forward, seemingly over the whole thing, but I could feel the pain rolling off of her. She simply nodded at the coven leader, sitting down to make herself seem less threatening. "How about your group comes back here in a half hour, in human form, and we can discuss this calmly."

"Why can't we have the discussion now?" Emmett asked.

"Because they would all be nude." Carlisle explained to his son, and by his expression I'm sure he'd be blushing if he could.

"Why are we even letting them come here at all? Why aren't we focusing on getting rid of them to protect our family?" Of course that was Edward. I was surprised when I heard a snarl come from Alice, but not as surprised as she seemed to be as soon as the noise left her lips.

"That's why." Carlisle simply stated. He looked back at Kat for some sort of answer, and she bowed her head to show that we'd be back. "Then we will await your arrival."

_"Danni, Rikki, you're going to have to herd Bella out of here. In this form she won't want to leave her Imprint."_ Kat instructed the others. And it was true, I found that I couldn't turn around to leave; all I could do was stare at Alice's small frame as she stared at me questioningly.

Before I knew what was going on a lioness and a leopard were pushing me out of the clearing, a crestfallen snow leopard following them. Once we were headed home and I had a right mind again I tried to talk to Kat, but she had somehow completely blocked herself off from the rest of us. It wasn't until we were in the house, shifted back, getting dressed that I was able to talk to her.

"Kat." I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. "Kat, we need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about. She's your Imprint." Kat told me, back turned so that I couldn't see her face.

"I'm sorry." The apology was the first thing that came to mind.

"Bella, don't apologize for finding your mate." Kat turned and gave me a sad smile. She then walked up to me and wrapped me into a hug, resting her chin on top of my head. That gesture used to be able to calm me down and make me feel protected, but now I was just met with the feeling that I should be the one holding someone, and that someone should be much shorter. "We always knew this was going to happen eventually." I felt moisture hitting my hair, indicating that the taller girl was crying.

"It doesn't make it any more fair to you." I muttered into her shoulder.

"I've accepted it. I just didn't think it'd be so soon. Or with a leech of all things." I couldn't help the low growl that sounded in my chest at the name she called Alice. "Right, sorry."

"I would have never thought it would be one of them either. Goddess, this would be so much easier if you were just my Imprint!" I huffed out.

"Life's never easy. But she's normally a bitch, and I've accepted that." Kat let loose a broken chuckle.

"I'm sorry I'm the reason you're going through this again." I pulled back and looked in her eyes.

"It's not your fault, stop apologizing."

"I can't help it, I love you and I hate hurting you. Hell, I don't even want to have an Imprint on one of them. They left me alone in a forest!"

"No, the moronic male did that. The rest of them had to follow to keep their family together. What would you do if Danni or Rikki suddenly decided it was time to go?"

"I'd go with them…" I muttered.

"Right, so as mad as you are at the vampires for leaving you, you're going to have to move past that."

"I just wish I could find you your Imprint. You deserve to have someone." I said, getting a little frustrated.

"Listen," she wiped my tears and placed her hands on my cheeks, "you still love me, right, as a friend?" I nodded, knowing that I still felt a deep affection for the girl in front of me, just not a romantic one anymore. She smiled, a real smile, and continued. "Then that's good enough for me for now. And I'll always love you, but it's going to take some time to shift that love from the romantic kind to a platonic kind. So can you bear with me while I work on that?" I nodded again and she kissed my forehead. "Good. Now we have to get going."

With that she wiped her own tears away and left the room, and me feeling like the worst possible pride-mate that ever existed.

**XXXXX**

Alice Cullen was pacing around the living room of her house, impatiently awaiting the return of the giant cat-shifters, and ultimately an explanation. No one in her family would tell her what was going on, and her visions were all messed up, making her on edge. She checked the clock again and saw that they only had five more minutes until the other group showed up, but each tick of the clock seemed to take an eternity.

Her head whipped to the door when she heard a car approaching the house, too loud to just be driving by the entrance. Thanking a higher power, she made her way out of the house, quickly followed buy her frustratingly mute family members. As she exited the house she saw a Jeep pulling up with heavily tinted windows, to the point that even she couldn't see into it.

The engine cut off as it parked and Alice found herself holding her breath as one door opened and a woman stepped out. If she was human, Alice would have described this girl as terrifying, and even as a vampire Alice found her unnerving. This girl was over six feet tall, probably close to even Emmett's height, with a set of piercing yellow-green eyes and a smirk that could rival even Rosalie's.

"Is that her?" Alice heard Emmett mutter quietly so that she couldn't hear.

"I hope not." Rosalie murmured. The girl in question shot the vampires a look that told them she could hear every word.

"No, that's definitely not her. I don't even know what an Imprint is and I can tell." Alice said, not even trying to be quiet considering the shifters could hear her.

Another girl slid out of the car, this time a tiny little thing, only a bit taller than Alice herself. This girl immediately attached herself to the taller one, lacing their fingers together and pulling her along.

"I'm going to assume it's not the little one either." Emmett said with a laugh, making Alice only shake her head. This was getting rather frustrating for the petite vampire, but at least there were only two more, right?

The next girl who got out made Alice's heart clench, but not due to any weird connection that she had no idea about. No, it was the absolutely empty and haunted look in the girl's gleaming blue eyes that would flash a to a pale green every so often. This girl looked so broken, as if everything she held dear was just ripped from her life in the blink of an eye. The girl seemed to steel herself, and the expression was soon replaced with an apathetic one.

Before Emmett could even ask about this girl the final car door opened, and the occupant stepped out, causing every vampire to take in a collective gasp. Moving with the rest of the shifters was Bella Swan, a smirk on her face. Alice couldn't help but feel a immense joy at seeing Bella again, never quite getting over the fact that her family had abandoned her. But seeing Bella again, Alice could see some obvious changes. Bella had grown taller and had gained a lean layer of muscle all over. Her eyes also seemed wilder, shifting all around as she walked towards us.

It then hit Alice, whatever an Imprint was, Bella had done it to her. Which meant that Bella was a shapeshifter like the rest of the women walking towards them.

Which led Alice to only one question: what the hell happened while they were gone?


	4. Chapter 4

When I heard the Cullens gasp as soon as I got out of the car I couldn't help the smirk that spread across my face. After all, not much could surprise a vampire, and I had done it beautifully. In fact that smirk stayed on my face as I walked with my pride up to the Cullens, only falling when I heard the one voice I really didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"Bella?" Edward called out, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I knew that if I did I'd have to use all my control not to rip his head off. "Bella, what's going on?" I couldn't stop myself from baring my teeth in a mix of anger and frustration. "Bella look at me." I couldn't hold back any longer, I turned my head to him and let loose a feral snarl, making him flinch.

"You're going to have to excuse Bella. She's still relatively young for a shifter, so her emotions cloud her judgment." I heard Kat explain to Carlisle, who she easily identified as the coven leader, as she placed a hand on my shoulder, no doubt ready to keep me in place at a moment's notice. "Also, all her emotions from before the change are now amplified, so her anger with your son is a bit stronger than she can deal with civilly."

Rage still had my body humming with energy, the panther ready to escape at a moment's notice. The only thing holding me back was the steady hand on my shoulder, and the knowledge that a fight would end very badly for my family.

"I can understand her being a bit irritated at my son." Carlisle assured Kat. "But to this extent?"

"You have to look at it from her perspective. Edward left her alone in a forest after telling her that she didn't matter to him. Not only that, he took away the family she was under the impression had accepted her." Kat explained.

"I left for her own good!" Edward called out, causing another roar to slip from my lips.

"Kat, this is getting very bad very quickly." Danni came over and grabbed my other arm, speaking to Kat, who had moved her grip so that she was holding me in place.

"I know, but what do you want me to do about it? We need to speak with them." Kat growled back.

"I got this." I heard Rikki speak from behind me, and before I knew what was going on two hands placed themselves on my face, and my head was being forced to move. Rikki maneuvered my head so that my gaze fell upon Alice, who was staring at me with concern. As soon as my eyes met hers all the anger flushed from my system, my muscles all relaxed, and I stopped shaking in rage.

Of course when I realized what Rikki was doing to me I grew frustrated, but it was an emotion I could easily deal with. After all, the giant of a girl had a way of irritating all of us just for fun. "Damn it Rikki." I growled at her, which caused her to snigger quietly.

"Um, what's going on?" Alice asked, still staring at me as if I was going to leap at her brother at any moment.

"That's what we're here to explain." Kat addressed Alice and released me.

"Well then, please come inside and we can talk through all this." Esme said and motioned for us to follow her into the house.

"Try and control yourself Bella." Kat hissed into my ear before moving into the house. I felt awful not being able to control myself at all while Kat could walk into a house of vampires calmly. Considering all that happened in her past, my display was pathetic.

Taking a deep breath, I followed the others into the house, moving to sit on the couch where my pride had situated themselves. I found myself in between Kat and Rikki, most definitely on purpose so they could grab me if things got ugly.

"Obviously a lot has changed since the last time we were in Forks." Carlisle commented, sitting in a chair right across from us. Esme was standing right behind him, Emmett and Rosalie to his left, Alice to his right. Edward was standing a little farther away, clueing in to the fact I was livid with him. And surprisingly, the unknown female pulled Jasper over to another couch, situating herself very close to him.

"Obviously." I muttered.

"Why don't you start at the beginning then. That way we can figure this all out." He prompted.

"Well first things first, this is Kat, Danni, and Rikki." I motioned to all of them in turn.

"It's nice to meet all of you." He addressed the members of the pride. "This is my wife Esme, and my children, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Edward, Jasper, and Marina." The coven leader motioned to all of the others in the room, ending on the unknown girl.

"Expanding your family? Won't the Volturi be upset?" I asked, eyeing the brunette next to Jasper.

"She's Jasper's mate." My head whipped over to see Alice staring at the floor.

"Oh." I said, fighting the urge to go over and hug the tiny vampire. This Imprint thing was already getting annoying.

"Moving right along." Kat spoke up. "From your earlier comments I'm assuming you know what shapeshifters are."

"A few from my family had contact with the pack on the reservation a while back. But we didn't get very much information from them, and some of my family are completely ignorant to your kind."

"Alright, as simple as it gets, we're creatures given the ability to shift back and forth from human to animal form. Our particular breed shift into felines, specifically big cats. Tigers, lions, leopards, and animals that that." Kat explained.

"And Bella? Last time we checked you were one hundred percent human." Emmett spoke up, eying me questioningly.

"I was human, yes. But Kat changed me to-"

"You turned her into one of you?" Using all my control I didn't look at Edward after he exploded at Kat.

"Let her finish." Kat growled at him.

"Like I was saying, Kat changed me to save my life." I stared at the table in front of us as I spoke.

"Save your life?" Alice asked, and I couldn't help but look up at her as she stared at me with a pained expression.

"Yes. After you all left I started taking hikes in the woods. One hike I met Laurent, and he tried to kill me as revenge for Victoria. Kat and the others stopped him, but not before he hurt me very badly."

"I was under the impression that shifters couldn't change others." Carlisle said.

"Every breed is different." Kat explained. "Our particular kind can change others, and the virus has the ability to heal all wounds the victim has suffered."

"Wait, does that mean Victoria is still after you?" Alice asked, panicking.

"I guess, but it's not like I can't take care of myself." I brushed her fear off.

"And it's not like she's alone anymore." Danni threw in, and I'm sure the vampires caught the accusation thrown in.

"Really, if you were going to pull her into the supernatural world, the least you could have done was made sure she was protected." Rikki threw at Edward, causing him to growl quietly.

"But on with the story." Kat prompted me, trying to avoid another confrontation.

"Right. There's not much more though, I mean, I changed and now I'm part of this pride."

"Personally I'd like to know about the Imprint since no one will tell me what it is." Alice huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, looking quite adorable.

"To be completely honest, I don't even know exactly what it is." I chuckled, looking over at Kat.

"Don't ask me, I'm the only one without one now." She shrugged, making the guilt come back full swing.

"Oh, oh! I can explain it!" Danni exclaimed, bouncing up and down and turning to Alice. "A shapeshifter knows the exact moment they meet their soul mate, and that feeling, and the resulting bond formed is called an Imprint. Bella will want to protect you, and be there for you, and make sure you're safe and loved all your life."

"Think of it like a vampire's mate bond." Rikki threw in, putting her hand on Danni's shoulder so she'd stop bouncing.

"My soul mate?" Alice questioned, her mouth hanging open, causing me to blush and hang my head.

"That can't be. Bella, you don't even like women!" Edward exclaimed, taking a step forward. Of course that prompted Kat to start laughing. Great, now I was about to be outed to a room full of vampires. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just guessing you haven't talked to anyone around town recently." Kat continued to laugh as she addressed him.

"What does that even mean?"

"It really bugs you that you can't just read our minds, doesn't it?" Kat asked.

"Just tell me." He rumbled.

"It means that since you left, Bella found out she's just like the rest of her pride." Rikki sneered.

"Gay, out, and proud!" Danni supplied, joining in with the laughing.

"So you not only turned her into a beast, you made her think that she was actually interested in women?"

"Hey! They saved my life when _you_ abandoned me! And they didn't make me think anything. I just happened to find out that I loved another woman while I was with them." I jumped up and defended my pride.

"Who?" Edward hissed. Well damn, didn't mean to let that slip out.

"It doesn't matter anymore considering the only person I'm even capable of loving is Alice. That's what the Imprint does." I crossed my arms and looked down at the floor.

"Who was it?" Edward asked again, walking right up to me and grabbing my arms.

"Edward that's enough!" Carlisle scolded his son, but Edward didn't let go, and I was very close to just attacking.

"Back off of her." Kat shot up and ripped him off of me, pushing him away.

"You?" He narrowed his eyes at Kat.

"It doesn't matter anymore, just like Bella said." She told him. I could tell she was doing everything she could not to snarl at him, and I could see the slightest tremor run through her.

"Edward stop it!" Alice jumped up from her seat and yelled at the fuming Cullen, prompting him to turn and glare at her.

"The fact that you're even considering it is disgusting." He spit out at her.

"How dare you!" Danni jumped up and growled, surprising everyone in the room. It was the first time the sweet girl had let the conversation rile her up. "Love is love, and if anything you should be happy that your sister has found her soul mate! She's your family, and family should always stick together." Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Family should never abandon one another, ever!"

"Danni…" Rikki stood up and pulled her mate into a hug.

All eyes were focused on the sniffling shifter and her mate; it wasn't until a rather earsplitting crash echoed through the house that all our heads snapped to find the source. Considering I didn't see what happened I didn't know exactly what happened, but just seeing it gave me a pretty good idea.

I managed to turn my head in time to see Kat go flying through the air and land with a loud thud about thirty feet from the Cullen's house. Standing about ten feet from her was Edward, shaking no doubt from rage. The way I figured, when we were all focused on Danni, Edward had thrown the unsuspecting Alpha straight out of the window wall.

Seeing this, I quickly made my way out of the now broken window and ran up to Edwards turned figure. He must have heard me coming because he turned around, but he was definitely not expecting my fist to connect with his face, resulting in a sickening crunch. He probably also wasn't expecting that crunch to be his face, or the fact that the force of the punch caused him to spin and fall flat on his face. But I wasn't done yet; once he was on the ground I planted a foot firmly on his back, grabbed his arm, and heaved with all my strength. I was soon rewarded with the sound of tearing, and before he knew what was going on I had his entire arm separated form his body. I quickly tossed the appendage across the clearing, swallowing bile when I saw the fingers still twitching.

Luckily for the now screaming vampire, I heard Kat moan in pain, and was pulled out of my murderous rage. So instead of killing him I hissed out a warning. "If you ever so much as lay a finger on one of my pride-mates again you will loose much, _much_ more than an arm." It might have been more fulfilling to hiss in his ear, but I didn't want to get that close to him. Wanting to cause just a _bit_ more pain, I raised the foot I had on his back and brought it down as hard as I could, the shattering noise all the reward I needed, but the yelp of pain was certainly an added bonus.

Quickly pushing off of Edward I made my way over to Kat and crouched by her shuddering form.

"I can't believe I let a leech get the drop on me." Kat chuckled, ignoring the trail of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. "I must be getting old."

"Kitty, you're not that old." I tried to chuckle back, but it came out broken.

"Hey now, I'll be fine. I just gotta get the glass out of my back. Trust me, I've had much worse." She assured me with a wink.

"You're going to have to let Carlisle do that. He is a doctor after all."

"Going into a house of vampires while bleeding profusely. My momma would be so proud." She grimaced.

I spun around and called for Danni and Rikki to help me pick up out wounded Alpha, noticing all the Cullens either glaring at Edward or looking at Kat worriedly.

"Edward." Carlisle walked up to his son, ignoring the boy's apparent pain. I was rather satisfied when I saw the large crack on the side of his face where my fist connected. "You will leave and take time to get yourself under control. Once you can think with a level head we will discuss your actions."

With a grimace and a nod the bronzed haired boy wisely went into the woods, making sure to grab his severed arm on his way. Carlisle let loose a large sigh and turned to my pride as we tried to raise Kat up as gently as we could.

"If you bring her into the dining room and lay her down on the table, I think that would best." He suggested before disappearing into the house to no doubt prepare for the procedure.

"How you feeling Kat?" I asked as we carried her into the house.

"Just fucking peachy, how about you?" She growled as we set her down on the table.

"Well, her sunny demeanor is still present. I'd take that as a good sign." Rikki laughed and moved back.

"If you will all move back, I'll begin." Carlisle pushed through and took a look at Kat's back, which at the moment looked like a pincushion for glass.

Rikki and Danni, probably figuring that he needed space, made their way back to the living room to settle on the couch, which left me alone with Carlisle and Kat. That is, until Alice made her way into the room, looking at Kat then at me with an apologetic look on her face.

"Bella I am so sorry for what he did!" She cried before pulling me into a hug.

"Hey, aren't I the one that went through a window because of him?" Kat asked as Carlisle started cutting her shirt so he could remove it.

"Did you want me to give you a hug?" Alice asked Kat as she pulled back from me, sarcasm thick in her voice.

"Fuck no." Kat growled, resting her chin on her arms.

"Didn't think so." Alice crossed her arms and glared at the blonde.

The two didn't have a chance to strike up conversation again due to Carlisle instructing Kat to maneuver slightly so her could pull the bloodstained fabric from her back. I saw him falter for the briefest of moments as he saw the four long scars on her back, but he quickly got to work removing the shards of glass from her skin. After that the room was eerily quiet, the only noise being the clang of glass as it was dropped into a bowl resting next to Kat.

Noticing the rather frequent faces she was pulling in pain, I made my way over to Kat's head and began scratching the area at the base of her skull, the only comfort I could think to give her, causing a loud rumbling to sound in the room.

"Is she purring?" Alice asked, poorly masking the anger in her voice.

"You know, jealousy is ugly on anyone, even a vampire." Kat managed to get out before her eyes closed and her head thumped onto the table as the purring increased in volume.

"What? I'm not- I don't- You aren't- Ugh!" Alice threw up her hands in frustration, and I found myself snickering at the flustered pixie.

"Calm down, I was just trying to help her take the mind off her pain." I told Alice, trying not the laugh at the girl's disgruntled expression.

As Carlisle went to place bandages on her back, Kat let loose a hiss of pain, putting a sudden halt to the purring. "I think two of your ribs may be broken."

"Just great." She grumbled.

"I'm going to set them, but it's going to be painful. I can give you some pain medication if you'd like. But I'm assuming your metabolism is rather fast." He told her, sympathy coloring his tone.

"It is, but I'd very much appreciate some pain relief."

"Alright, hold on." He quickly flashed out of the room and was back just as quickly, only now he was holding a rather large needle.

"Oh Goddess…" I muttered and backed up.

"It's a needle isn't it?" Kat asked without lifting her head.

"Yes." I gulped and made my way to the door, the needle still an irrational fear of mine.

"Great…" She growled as the needle entered her skin.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Just for future reference, I'll probably normally update once a week. The first few chapters were an exception because I had them all written out before publishing. Also this story has officially broken 100 follows! Thank you guys so much! You have no idea how happy that makes me.  
**

**I still don't own Twilight**

* * *

Not wanting to watch poor Kat undergo any more torture, and figuring the pain meds would knock her out anyway, I left the room entirely, making my way to the entry area and sitting on a step of the grand staircase.

"Mind if I join you?" I looked up to see Alice shifting from foot to foot, her gaze flying around the room.

"Go ahead." I replied, scooting over to give her some room.

"So…"

"So." Well, this wasn't awkward at all. "Where's the rest of your family? Did they clear out because of the blood?"

"Actually no. Your scent doesn't make us thirsty for some reason."

"Really?"

"Really. It's hard to explain, but I guess for vampires, thirsts like a burning, similar to a raging fire in the back of our throats. Humans stroke that fire, make it burn hotter so that we need to quell it somehow. But with your kind the fire doesn't burn anymore than usual." She explained, looking down at the ground.

"That's interesting."

"Yeah." She glanced up at me but quickly glanced away as soon as she saw me looking at her. "We need to talk about all this still."

"Yes, but I think that's more of a private conversation. One where both our families aren't listening." I told her, not liking the idea of an entire house of eavesdroppers.

"I agree. But it needs to be soon." She gave me a small smile, which I returned after a second of hesitation. A moment later Carlisle walked into the entrance area and made his way over to us.

"How is she?"

"She's asleep. Her lacerations were already beginning to heal, so I'd wager that she'll be fine very soon." He informed me with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you."

"It was the least I could do considering my son was the cause. Again, I am very sorry for his actions."

"It wasn't your fault. Edward decided to be an ass, and none of us could have changed that." I assured him, and he nodded after a slight hesitation.

"I have to ask though. I noticed Kat's exceptional healing rate, but…" He trailed off, but I knew what he was getting at.

"The scars?" He nodded. "When I was first changed Kat told me that there are a few things that can permanently scar a shifter. One is the bite that changed someone. Another is another shifter."

"Was she attacked and changed?" Alice asked.

"No, Kat was born a shifter." Alice opened her mouth, no doubt to ask another question, but I quickly cut her off. "It's not my place to tell you about Kat's past. Hell, it took her two months before she'd even tell me. All I can say is that she had a rough time growing up."

"I understand." Carlisle told me before heading upstairs to change his bloody clothes.

"Were you two really together before my family came back?" Alice asked once her father left.

I took a deep breath, not wanting to dwell on the memories, but answering her all the same. "Yes."

"Is that why she hates me so much?" Alice asked in a small voice, and when I looked over to her I saw her head hung in shame.

"Actually, no." Her head shot up and she gave me a questioning look. "Kat understands what an Imprint does to a person, so she doesn't hold that against either of us. But she has her reasons for hating all vampires. It's not just you."

"That's reassuring." Alice said with sarcasm.

"If it makes you feel any better, they're good reasons." I laughed a little at her expression.

Alice was about to say something else, but stopped short when a stumbling Kat came into the room. She slowly made her way over towards us, almost falling multiple times during the journey. Once she did finally make her way to us she all but collapsed into my lap.

"Kat, what are you doing?"

"Hi Bells." She slurred out, sounding strangely like she was drunk. I felt a slight breeze and looked up to see Alice gone, but she quickly reappeared with a shirt in her hand, which she threw at Kat.

"You could at least put some clothes on." Alice said with her arms crossed.

"She's spunky." Kat giggled, then leaned to whisper in my ear. Or at least she tried to whisper but it came out at normal volume anyway. "She's not half bad for a bloodsucker. But don't tell her I told you that, it's a secret." She pulled away and began laughing uncontrollably.

"What's the matter with her?" Alice asked, but I saw the barley hidden smile on her face, either in response to the statement or at the other girl's actions, I didn't really know.

"I don't know." I answered as I tried to get Kat to put on the shirt.

"I'm assuming the vampire gave her morphine." I looked up to see Rikki leaning in the doorway.

"And?"

"Kat has a weird reaction to morphine. It makes her act drunk. Like a teenager at her first frat party drunk." Rikki answered, making her way over to us to help Kat get the clothing on. "Made it hard for her back when she was 16 or so."

"They actually gave her pain meds back then?" I asked, thinking back to what Kat told me about her time when she was first shifting.

"She was the best, so she got the best." Rikki answered once we finally got the shirt on the girl.

"What are you two talking about?" Alice asked with a huff.

"Her past." Rikki answered simply, then turned to Kat. "Why aren't you asleep Kat?"

"I tried, but the dogs wouldn't stop barking." Kat slurred out with a frown.

"Dogs?" I asked her.

"Yep. Woof, woof." She smiled up at me, making me notice her canines had elongated into fangs, a common response to danger. When shifters sensed danger was near certain unconscious changes happened, whether it be our canines elongating, our claws beginning to grow, or our eyes flashing the color of our cats'. So the fact that Kat was having that reaction meant something was coming for us.

"Shit, you think it's the pack?" Rikki asked.

"Could be. They might not know the Cullens are back." I answered.

"The pack?" I looked back to see Carlisle descending the stairs.

"The shifters from La Push. They think we're a threat, or at least our scent is. We've never actually gotten to speak to them, Kat tried a few times to speak to their Alpha, but every time we got close they would start growling and snarling. There are at least seven of them, and only four of us, so we didn't want to risk a fight." I explained, standing up and trying to steady Kat. "Kat, is the barking getting louder or quieter?"

"Louder. There're footsteps too." She had the closest thing to a frown she could manage on her face. "Why won't they let me sleep Bells?"

"They're gonna go away soon, don't worry." I assured the blonde who was using me as a support. "We have to get her somewhere safe, she can't fight like this." I told Rikki.

"If it is the wolves from the Reservation then they're in violation of the treaty." Carlisle spoke up. "If they come here and we can show them that my family is back and then they'd have to leave. Your pride can hide in here until we get them off our land."

"Alright, but we'll be ready to fight just incase." Rikki told him.

"I'll get her upstairs." I looked over as Esme suddenly appeared, arms outstretched to take Kat. After a second of hesitation I handed the drugged Alpha over and the two disappeared up the stairs. Esme appeared after a moment, informing us that Kat was safely asleep in a spare bedroom.

"I can hear them now." Alice spoke up from the front door where she had been keeping guard. "How did she hear them so much sooner than the rest of us?"

"Kat has the best hearing out of any of us." Danni informed her, coming to stand by Rikki and me.

"Impressive." Carlisle murmured. "Now you three stay here and we'll go outside to meet the wolves." The three of us nodded and, as soon as the Cullens left the house, made our way to the front wall to keep a close ear on the altercation.

At first all I could hear was heavy footfalls of large beasts. I mean really, how did they ever expect to track anything when they sounded like an elephant tromping through the woods? Then a myriad of growling and barking sounded through the clearing surrounded the Cullens' mansion.

"Where is the beast?" I heard a man ask, his voice rough and tense.

"I have to say I don't know what you are referring to. I also must point out that you are on our land, and therefore in violation of the treaty." Carlisle spoke up keeping his voice very calm and level.

"We have been tracking the scent of something for the past three months. Its scent is all over this clearing." The male's voice spoke up. I was assuming this was the Alpha as all the other noises I could here were huffing and growling of large animals, meaning he was the only one in human form.

"Again, I don't know what this creature your talking about is. My family just arrived here a few hours ago, and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary." Carlisle replied.

"Why are you back?" I heard another voice bite out, this one uncomfortably familiar to me. It was a voice I used to associate with warmth and happiness, but recently it reminded me of another one that left me all alone. The voice belonged to none other than Jacob Black. Well, I guess I knew why he stopped calling…

"Why we're back is our own business _dog_." That was definitely Rosalie. Jake's only response was a low growling.

"I see you added to your coven since the last time you were here." Alpha spoke up.

"If you're insinuating that they changed me, then you're wrong." Marina said. "I was a vampire for years before the Cullens found me. So there was no breach of your treaty." I was impressed at how calm she was when speaking to a pack of giant wolves that wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

"Speaking of your coven, aren't you missing one?" Jacob spoke up again.

"Edward is out hunting." Carlisle simply replied.

"Bullshit!" Jacob snarled. "He's with Bella, isn't he?" It took everything I had not to laugh out loud at that. As if I wanted that asshole within ten feet of me. I saw both Rikki and Danni also trying to keep in snickers.

"No, he's out hunting. Are you really so dense that simple language escapes you?" Alice mocked him, and I found myself smirking at her words.

"After all the pain he's caused her, he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near her!" Well, I could agree with Jacob about that. "You should have never come back!"

"Jacob, enough." Alpha barked at Jake. "We didn't know your _family_," he bit out the word as though it caused him pain, "was back in Forks. We will leave, but if you do find the thing running around I suggest you send it our way. I'm sure my pack would have an easier time with it than you would."

After a tense moment I heard the sound of the pack retreating, and I finally let out a breath I didn't even realize I had been holding. Danni, Rikki, and I all stood up, stretching out our legs after crouching by the front door for a bit too long. The Cullens slowly made their way back into the house, Alice immediately coming to stand by me. And, surprisingly, I found it reassuring to have her in my presence, as if her near me could calm my nerves.

"They shouldn't be a problem again, but from their reaction I'd stay far away from their land." Carlisle told me.

"Trust me, we want nothing to do with them. How many wolves were there anyway?" I asked.

"Ten." He answered and I cringed, knowing full well there was no way the pride would be a match for that many. "It was odd though, they were all different sizes, but not much variation. Except for one, he was so much shorter and slimmer than the rest."

"He was probably a she then." Rikki spoke up.

"But only the males have the gene passed on to them." Carlisle said with a perplexed expression.

"Either the wolf was very young, or was a she." Rikki said again.

"Who's a she?" I looked to see Kat walking down the stairs, wiping sleep from her eyes. "Why's everyone gathered in the entryway? And why was I upstairs?"

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakens!" Emmett declared with a booming laugh.

"Huh?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"You passed out after Carlisle gave you morphine." Danni elaborated, and Kat's expression turned to one of horror.

"Did I do anything while under?" She asked tentatively.

"Oh no." Alice spoke up and skipped over to the anxious shifter, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "And don't worry, I don't think your half bad either, for a shapeshifter and all." It looked rather ridiculous considering Kat was almost a foot taller than Alice, and the fact that Kat now looked horrified at the statement.

"I have no idea what I said, but I didn't mean any of it!" She told Alice, then shot me a look.

At that point I couldn't help it, I busted up laughing, doubling over from the situation and the poor girl's face.

"Don't worry Kat, it really wasn't that bad." Danni spoke up when it was apparent I couldn't.

"What wasn't that bad?" She asked, slipping out from under Alice's arm.

"Oh, you know, you just told me you wanted to be 'bestest friends ever'." Alice said, the words extremely exaggerated.

"I did not!" Kat exclaimed.

"How would you know?" Alice shot back.

"Bella?" I managed to get a hold of myself long enough to see Kat look at me with a pleading expression on her face.

"No, you just told me that you thought Alice wasn't that bad. Then complained about the wolves barking and keeping you up." I broke and told her, figuring she had been through enough today.

"The wolves?" She asked.

"All taken care of. They won't come onto the Cullens' land as long as the Cullens are here." I told her.

"Good." She nodded. "Now, I feel like we've overstayed our welcome a bit." She told Carlisle with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry about passing out in someone's bed."

"That's alright. It's not like we sleep in them anyway." He told her with a smile.

"Then we'll get going. Thank you for being understanding about all of this, and for not chasing us out of your territory." Kat walked up to him and held out her hand, which he took.

"As long as you don't cause any trouble, I don't see why it would even be a problem for you to be here."

"Oh, one last thing before we leave." Kat stopped on her way to the door. "On nights of the full moon I suggest you don't hunt. We shouldn't have a problem with your family since you're all family of one of our pride's Imprints, but sometimes we don't have full control over our instincts. Especially on the night of the full moon, that's when we're the most like actual animals."

"Fascinating, you have to shift on the full moon?" Kat nodded at Carlisle's question. "I would love to learn more about your species in the future if you wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure you will. Family of an Imprint becomes family to the pride." Kat told him. "We'll see you around."

"Kat." I walked up to my Alpha, speaking as low as I could to avoid others overhearing. "I need to talk to Alice, so I'm going to stay behind."

"Alright." She agreed after a moment. "Just be careful."

With a nod the rest of the pride left the house, leaving me standing in the middle of a room surrounded by vampires all staring at me.

"Alice, can we take a walk?" I asked her, trying to ignore the suggestive looks Emmett was sending me, or the smirk on Rosalie's face.

"Absolutely." With that the little vampire took my hand and drug me into the woods.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So I'm on Spring Break this week, which means one of two things. Either you all will get a new chapter some time in the middle of the week as a bonus, or I'll be missing until the weekend. After all, I have a PS3 at home that is missing at college, and 3 Mass Effect games that need to be played... **

**I still don't own Twilight**

* * *

Alice led me into the woods, neither of us speaking for a while, but I did notice she would keep glancing in my direction as if she expected something.

"What?" I asked when it started to get obnoxious.

"You're not tripping." She answered with a frown.

"Huh?" I asked as I stepped over a fallen trunk.

"See! You used to be a klutz, and now you can just sidestep everything without even trying."

"Personally I enjoy not falling on flat surfaces anymore." I smirked as I continued to walk, still unsure where we were going.

"It's just a bit strange is all." She murmured, and I wasn't sure if she looked frustrated or dejected.

"Right. So is there a particular place we're going, or…?" I prompted.

"Not really, I was just making sure we went the opposite way Edward went." She said with a shrug. "We should be far enough away by now."

"Alright." I found a relatively clean log and sat down. Alice opted to lean against a tree and fixed me with a stare. I guess she was expecting me to start. "Why did you all come back?"

"That's what you want to start with?" She asked with a short laugh.

"It's that or 'why did you leave without so much as a goodbye?'." She flinched at that one. "Your choice which one is first."

"I didn't want to leave you. I just want you to know that."

"But you did." I stated.

"To be honest, I didn't know what was going to happen when I left with Jasper." It was my turn to flinch slightly, the thought of her and Jasper stirring some unwanted feeling in my chest. "I thought we'd be away for a short time, then we would come back. Then all of the sudden the future shifted. Edward made up his mind, and the visions all came rushing at me." Her voice sounded strained, and I felt a little bad for starting with this, but we had to. I had issues, I needed to move on from them, and that was only going to happen if she gave me some reasons. I needed to understand.

"And you didn't think to try and change his mind. Or even say goodbye for Goddess's sake!" I bit out.

"Goddess?" She asked. "That's not the first time I've heard you say that."

"Oh, right." I stuttered, knowing she wouldn't have any idea about shifter lore. "I kind of picked it up from the others. Condensed version, according to shifter stories there was a great mother that gave her people the ability to shapeshift. She became a goddess figure to all shifters, so we use 'Goddess' instead of 'God'." I explained. "But that's besides the point."

"Right, sorry. By the time I knew for certain Edward was going to leave you it was too late. I couldn't come back to say goodbye only to leave again. I considered it, but I saw it tearing you apart. And I couldn't call, that would have been even worse. As much as I didn't want to leave, a clean break was the way that you'd suffer the least." She finished.

"The way I would have suffered the least was none of you leaving in the first place." I growled, thumping my fist into the bark I was sitting on.

"I know." She affirmed with her head hung in shame. "But that wasn't my call."

"So why did you come back. Not exactly a 'clean break' if you all suddenly reappear."

"A few things made us come back. For one, your future completely disappeared. That set me off, and I've been insisting we find out why for the past three months." She explained.

"So you can't see the shifters?" I asked. I knew that mental powers didn't work on our species, but this was news.

"I guess not. At first Edward tried to reason that it was just distance, and that it was a good thing. That way I couldn't watch you and try to interfere with your life." She scoffed, clearly not in agreement. "But I would focus everything I had on seeing you and nothing happened. I could see Charlie, and all your friends from school, but not you. It scared me." She admitted.

"And the other reasons?" I asked, trying not to dwell on the swelling warmth that wanted to blossom as a result of her panicking over not being able to see me. Sure, it meant she cared for me, but I was still mad, though I found myself having to remind myself that that was the case more and more around her.

"I guess there's really only one other main reason. Recently I've been having these visions that I can't make any sense of. But they're always the same, without fail."

"What's going on in the visions?"

"That's just it, I have no idea. All I've figured out is that there's some sort of fighting going on in a clearing. After about five visions my family figured out that the clearing is at the base of the mountains here." I perked up at that. "But there's all these dark spots and blurry pieces. There's also one person I can make out, that I'm sure is the same every time, but I can't make out any of his features."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"I don't know. It means that as of now, the fight is going to happen, but maybe how it goes on is unsure. Or maybe it involves shifters, now that I know I can't see your kind." She huffed out in exasperation. "All I know is that I wasn't going to let it happen and not know if you were safe or not.

"So I decided to come back. Emmett was also pissed that we left; he really likes you, so he said he was coming back too. That meant Rose was coming back. Marina wanted to meet the 'infamous Bella'," Alice used air quotes and cracked a smile, "so she said she was coming with us, which meant so was Jasper. At that point all the kids other than Edward had decided to come back, so Carlisle and Esme were coming with us, so Edward finally caved and decided to come too."

"So what's Marina's story anyway?" I asked, unable to keep the curiosity at bay anymore.

"We found her in England trying to starve herself." Alice said with a grimace.

"Why?"

"She had been tortured and turned by a psychopath vampire, and once she was a vampire she went off on him. She ripped him apart and burned the building he was in, ultimately killing him. But she hated what he had made her, so she went into hiding. I guess some people found her after she hadn't fed in a while, and she killed them all. That only made her hate herself more. When we found her she was locked in a cellar. She hadn't fed in three months, and was almost insane."

"And how did the whole Jasper thing happen?" I asked tentatively.

"He saw her and just knew. It happens that way sometimes, a vampire just knows. Eventually we got her calmed down and explained that she could survive off of animal blood instead of human blood. She agreed to stay with us and work on her control." She answered.

"I'm sorry about the whole Jasper thing." I said, a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Why? He found his mate and I apparently found mine." She said with a grin. "Besides, we knew we weren't true mates. We just got along so well that it was confortable."

"That's good I guess." I laughed a bit awkwardly.

"So that's why I left and why we came back. Now it's my turn." She told me with a serious face causing me to gulp. "What have you been doing since we left?"

"In all honesty, for the first four months I did nothing. I went around like a zombie for four months, then I managed to pull it together somewhat and do the bare minimum. I graduated, but I didn't apply to any schools, so I'm taking the year off of school. Then you know what happened once the pride found me." I said, internally cringing at how pathetic that sounded.

"Alrighty then." She said slowly, clearly disappointed at how barren my past almost year had been. "So what do we do now?"

"Honestly? I'm still angry Alice. I'm not going to lie and tell you that all my issues are behind me. You all left and that hurt a hell of a lot." I confessed, hating the pain that flashed across her features. "In reality most of that anger is reserved for Edward, but there is some for the rest of you, and I hate that I still hold that against you. I can't help it though. So no one is going to be jumping into each other's arms and running off into the sunset in the near future."

"I understand. But I want to try and make that anger go away. I know that the pain we inflicted can't be reversed, but I want to try anyway." She told me earnestly. But there was one more thing I had to be sure of, so I just went for it.

"So you're okay with being with a woman?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, her brows scrunching together in an adorable way.

_Stop that! Not adorable, you are focusing on issues right now, not on how adorable she looks when she's confused or flustered, or… Damn it!_ I mentally yelled at myself, making me consider for a moment that I was actually going insane.

"Some people do have issues." I mumbled after a moment, trying to get out of my own thoughts.

"Well I'm not that closed minded. Also, if I'm being honest," she paused and drew in a deep breath, "I've always had feeling for you. Like I told you when we met, I knew we were going to be great friends. I guess I underestimated how strong those feelings were though. But you chose Edward, and I respected that choice. I never wanted to get between anyone, I knew that would be wrong and would only cause pain. So I accepted that we were going to be great friends, and I attempted to burry any other feelings."

"That makes it kind of easy then, doesn't it?" I laughed.

"So are you willing to let me try and make some of the anger go away?" She asked, sounding incredibly vulnerable. This time I didn't fight the urges I felt, I got up and wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug.

"If you're willing to be patient and help me move past all the crap in the past." She nodded, tightening her grip.

It was then that I noticed a vibrating in my back pocket that even had Alice giggling.

"I think your phone's ringing." She informed me as she pulled away.

"That it is." I pulled the phone out, and upon seeing that it was Charlie calling I quickly picked up. "Hey dad, what's up?"

"Bella, Jacob was just here, and he seemed really upset about something. I was just calling to warn you, he's on his way over to your home now." Charlie sounded incredibly concerned.

"He's going to my house?" I asked, fear gripping me.

"Yes, he didn't even know you had moved out, but he said he really needed to speak with you." Charlie explained.

Dread gripped my heart, without knowing it Charlie sent a pack member right into the home of my pride. My home, which reeked of our scent. The very scent that the wolves deemed a threat.

"Bella?"

"Yeah Dad?" I managed to get out.

"Jacob wasn't completely coherent, but I swore I heard him say something about the Cullens. Do you have any ideas what that was about?" Charlie sounded like he really didn't want to ask, but managed anyway.

"They're back." I answered curtly.

"Oh. Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Listen Dad, I really need to go, Danni just dropped a vase and there's glass everywhere. I gotta help her clean it up." I came up with some excuse to get off the phone as quickly as possible, starting to run even before he answered.

"O-okay. Will I see you one last time before you head out?"

"Yeah Dad. Love you." I answered, noticing Alice was running right next to me, concern apparent on her face.

"What was that about? You don't live with Charlie anymore? And you're leaving?" Alice was rattling off questions as we ran.

"I live with the pride, and we were going to leave because of the pack, but we're obviously not going anywhere now. But right now I have to get back because there's a wolf heading straight into my pride's home." I elaborated.

"And that would be bad?"

"They don't know who we are as humans, but if Jacob goes to my house he's going to be able to put two and two together. I mean, four girls living in a house reeking of the unknown scent? Not really too hard." I told her.

Then I heard the growling, prompting me to push myself even harder. Surprise flashed across Alice's face as she upped her speed to match mine again, but I didn't even take a second to feel smug, I had to know my family was okay.


	7. Chapter 7

Bursting into the clearing where my house was located I was glad that there didn't seem to be any sort of fighting going on, yet at least. However, there was a rather large russet-colored wolf baring its fangs at my pride, who were all human, standing shoulder to shoulder vibrating slightly. I knew that in a moment they would all shift and attack Jacob, and even though the ass had basically abandoned me, I was pretty sure that I didn't want him dead.

"Jacob, stop it!" I yelled, running to stand in front of my pride. His ears suddenly perked up in confusion, but he refused to take his eyes off the three shaking girls behind me. "Yes Jake, I know that's you. Now can you please shift back and talk to me like a civil wolf-beast?" I teased slightly, probably pushing my luck a bit. He eyed me with the best 'are you serious' look a wolf could manage. "I swear, I will slap that look off your face if you don't. I've had quite the day and you don't want to push me."

Thankfully, instead of attacking, Jacob let out a large huff and made his way into the woods, most likely to put on some pants. As quickly as the giant wolf disappeared, Jacob was stomping out of the woods, looking rather aggravated.

"Alright, I'm shifted back, now talk." Jacob all but growled at me.

"Nice to see you too. How have you been these past months? I've been wonderful, thanks for asking." I seethed back at him. At my response Jake blanched, all his anger dissipating. Then, suddenly, his face broke into a huge grin.

"You're much more sarcastic than I remember." He laughed slightly. However, just as quickly as the smile came, it was wiped off his face when his gaze fell upon Alice. "Leech."

"Mutt." She shot back with a sickly sweet smile.

"So where's Edward." Jacob spit out the other Cullen's name.

"Not sure." I answered, getting his attention. "Somewhere in the woods trying to reattach his arm I'd guess." I finished with a slightly feral grin.

"No shit." Jacob said as he turned his gaze to me and let out another laugh, causing my grin to widen. "Well it's about time someone handed him his ass. Never quite knew what you saw in him."

"Join the club." Kat muttered from behind Jacob.

"Anyway, I was serious when I said we would talk. But we should do it inside." I said, motioning to the house.

"Just talk?" Jake glanced at the house skeptically.

"Look," Kat took a step forward to address the other shifter, "we've been trying to talk to your pack for a while now, but you all keep growling at us when we get close. I guess you've already established that we're threats to you, but we don't want to be. We just want to live here in peace, and not have to worry about ten giant wolves barreling down on us."

"I'm assuming that you're the leader of this little group." Jacob stated.

"Yes, but I'll explain everything in more detail if you'll let me." Kat replied.

After a moment's hesitation Jake nodded and I allowed a small smile to break out on my face. That was one less thing I had to worry about, as long as the talk went alright that is.

"Are any of your pack-mates coming because of that little phased incident?" Rikki asked, still getting her shaking under control.

"No, they're trying to respect the treaty line." Jacob told her, glancing at Alice as he did.

"Bella," Alice spoke quietly to me before I could make a move to enter the house, "I don't think he'd do well with me so close to him, the whole 'werewolf-vampire' thing and all. Even if they aren't actually werewolves."

"But?" I asked once I noticed her hesitation.

"I don't really want to leave you alone with a rival shapeshifter that wanted to kill anything with your scent not ten minutes ago." She elaborated.

"Alice, I'll be fine. There are four of us, and only one of him. _If_ he gets any ideas that is. But I think he'll listen, we were, are, fairly close after all." I assured her with a smile.

"If you're sure…" She said but still seemed hesitant to leave.

"I am. Now go home and let your family know what's going on. Also…" I paused, unsure of how to word what I wanted to tell her.

"What?"

"I'm sure Edward is going to be back soon, and I just want you to be careful. I don't know how pissed he is, or how much he's going to lose his mind over everything that's happened. So just be careful, alright?" I rushed out, which caused a huge grin to break out on her face.

"I'll be careful. Besides, I have Emmett and Jasper on my side if I couldn't take care of myself. But thank you for worrying about me." She said with a small giggle. Turning to go, she paused before quickly spinning back to face me and placed a quick kiss on my cheek before speeding away in the direction of her house.

"Bella!" Danni called out when it was clear I wasn't moving.

"I'm coming." I called back, unconsciously touching my fingers to my cheek that was still tingling from the soft, cool lips that had just been there.

"Someone's got it bad." Danni sing-songed as we walked into the house.

"Watch it pipsqueak." I growled as I walked into the living room where Jacob was sitting across from Kat. I sat next to my Alpha, who was curiously regarding Jake, as he stared intently at me.

"So, Bella…" Jacob prompted.

"I'm just going to make this as quick as possible, considering I've already had to go through this once today. The scent that your pack is tracking is shifter." I told him plainly.

"Impossible! That would mean…" Jacob choked as his stare darted between all four of the girls in front of him.

"We all are shifters in this room Jacob." Kat told him.

"But you're not Quileute! The gene would have never been passed to you. And you don't even smell like wolves." Jacob rattled off.

"Did you really think that there was only one type of shapeshifter out there Jacob Black?" Kat asked with a smirk, which caused Jacob to open his mouth in protest, but Kat quickly cut him off. "You don't know half of the things that are out there. Hell, did you even know you were shapeshifters, or did you think you were werewolves?"

"What else would we be? We're men who shift into wolves, isn't that the definition of a werewolf?" He asked, seemingly absolutely curious and not even a bit angry.

"You've never met a werewolf, pup, and you should thank your ancestors and any deity you worship for that." Kat growled out, shaking slightly.

"And why is that?"

"Those monsters are mindless killing machines, not capable of a single human thought or emotion. They will kill anything that moves by ripping it limb from limb. I may hate vampires, but they had the right idea in killing those things off." She explained.

"How can you tell me that you're a shifter, and then tell me that you agree with vampires killing off something that would be like a cousin species to you?" Jacob asked, getting angry.

"Werewolves are sentenced to the worst fate possible. Once infected they will never take human form again. They are beasts for the rest of their existence, infecting any human unlucky enough to stumble across them, if they don't kill the poor mortal first." She spoke in a detached voice, completely emotionless.

"Seriously." He asked, as the color seemed to drain from his face. Her conviction and detail seemed to be enough to convince him of her knowledge.

"Yes, but we're getting off topic." Kat said with a small shake. "Also, we never introduced ourselves. I'm Kat, that's Danni," the tiny girl gave a smile and a wave, "and that's Rikki." Said girl continued to glare at the wolf on the couch. "And you already know Bella."

"Right. So if we're all shifters, what's the difference between us?"

"As far as I know, we're all the same species, but different strains of the virus reside in our bodies. This makes us shift differently. For example, your tribe has a genetic strain that infects predominately males, and is only activated when a danger is presented to the people, and turns you into wolves, correct?" Kat asked and Jake nodded dumbly, probably surprised that she knew so much. "The strain that infects us has the ability to be passed on through bite, or through heritage. It also turns us into felines instead of wolves, can infect any gender, any race, and any age."

"So I'm assuming that one of you infected Bella?" Jake asked, and I was very happy that he didn't seem upset.

"I did, but it was to save her life. I wouldn't go around biting any human I saw, that's sick." Kat emphasized.

"Saved her life?" Jake asked staring at me.

"A nomadic vampire found me and was going to get revenge for a companion because Edward killed her mate. He hurt me pretty badly before Kat and the others found me, and I wasn't going to make it, so she changed me." I explained, watching him flinch at the words.

"We should have been there to protect you. That's what the pack does!" Jacob growled, angry at himself, and thankfully not the pride.

"Jake, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known the exact time and location of a rouge vampire, and it all worked out in the end anyway." I told him, getting him to nod after a moment.

"So how similar are our two types of shifters?" Jake asked.

"Not really sure. I've met other shifters, but never really taken the time to get to know the details of there kind. Do you shift due to heightened emotions?" Kat asked.

"Yes. Do you share a pack mind when you're shifted?" The tall boy asked back.

"Pride mind, but same general thing I'm guessing." Kat responded.

"Do you guys Imprint?" Danni asked suddenly, cutting off Kat's next question.

"Uh, yeah. Do you?" He asked the tiny shifter.

"Yep!" Danni beamed, pulling Rikki close.

"I'm guessing you two…" Jacob motioned between the two girls, getting two nods in response, one significantly more enthusiastic than the other. "What about you two?" Jacob asked Kat and I, but suddenly blushed and stumbled to fix the innuendo he accidentally added in. "I mean, not to each other, but in general?"

Kat actually cracked a smile at that, and shook her head. "I haven't found an Imprint yet, but Bella has."

"Do I know him?" Jake asked me, causing me to cringe and Danni to giggle.

"You know her…" I muttered.

"Her? You have a _her_?" He asked, sputtering at my response.

"Yes her. It's actually Alice." I told him, holding my head high and trying not to panic when he took a large chunk of time to respond.

"The tiny Cullen?" He managed to get out.

"Yeah. It was kind of a surprise to everyone." I admitted.

"A vampire? A shifter Imprinting on a vampire? The smell alone should be enough to drive you far, far away."

"Actually," I said, recalling our conversation in the woods, "she doesn't smell like the others. She smells like she did when I was still human. Like vanilla and jasmine." I recalled the memory with a small dreamy smile.

"That's a relief for your nose I guess." Jacob chuckled awkwardly.

"Speaking of bonds," Kat spoke up, breaking me out of my haze and Jake out of his awkward glancing around the room, "I was wondering of your tribe had any stories of a bond that isn't an Imprint bond."

"Like what?" Jacob asked, seemingly happy to change the subject quickly.

"Well, when I first saw Bella I felt drawn to her, but Danni and Rikki told me that the pull paled in comparison to the Imprint bond. That's all I can really tell you about it, considering that's all I know about it." The Alpha explained.

"I've never heard of anything like that." Jake told her, causing my Alpha to deflate slightly. "But my dad's an elder, and knows a whole bunch of stories about our tribe's heritage. Maybe he's heard of something."

"If you could ask him, I'd be very grateful. It's been driving me crazy every since it formed." Kat asked of him.

"It would probably be better if you could ask him yourself. In fact, I have a feeling that the elders are going to want to speak with your… did you call it a pride?" Kat nodded, and he continued. "Your pride then, once I tell them about you, and the fact that you're not a threat."

"That's all we've ever really wanted." Rikki grumbled.

"And I'm sorry that we've only met your scent with hostility. But it was foreign and we felt the need to protect the people of Forks and the Reservation."

"It was probably also a territorial thing. I know I've met other species that hate it when you invade their territory, so I'm sure your pack follows that trend. Another shifter group moving in could be seen as a threat." Kat mused.

"Maybe." Jacob agreed. "But we'll fix that. Or at least I'll try to get Sam to see that we need to."

"That's your Alpha?" I asked him, recalling stories of the older boy who Jake used to see as some crazy cult leader on the Rez. I guess we know why he had such a following now.

"Yeah. He normally is pretty reasonable when it comes to anything but vampires, so I hope he'll see reason on this." Jake told us and stood to leave. Right before he walked out the door he spun around and addressed me. "I'm glad you're safe Bella. I'm sorry I left you too, but I'm glad that you know why at least." And with that he left the building.

"So are we gonna have anger issues with the dog too?" Rikki asked, flopping down next to me and throwing her legs in both Kat's lap and mine.

"I don't think so. I mean, at least he had a legitimate reason for avoiding me. I remember what it was like to shift at fist, and I'm sure he just didn't want to hurt me." I admitted grudgingly.

"Good. Homicidal rage towards one person is enough drama for one household." Rikki said with a nod.

"Rikki, we're feline shifters living next to canine shifters and a huge ass coven of vampires. Do you really think that the drama is done growing?" Kat asked skeptically, rolling her eyes at the other girl.

Understandably, the sarcastic girl had no answer for that one.

**XXXXX**

Sitting in the living room of the pride's house, I was trying to read a book to provide a temporary distraction, simultaneously trying to ignore both Kat and Danni as they acted to distract me, albeit unintentionally. Danni was sitting on the couch next to me watching some YouTube video of a drunk girl attempting to cook, and failing miserably. Of course this was making Danni giggle periodically, and full out laugh at other times. Kat, on the other hand, was attempting to keep her activity as quiet as possible. She was sitting playing some video game with the low volume easily ignored. Something with a redhead shooting aliens in space, but every so often she'd hiss at the T.V. to yell at a character when they did something I guess she didn't like.

"What are you all doing?" I looked up from the same page that I'd trying to read for the past ten minutes to see Rikki descending the stairs, looking between all of us as she dried her hair from the shower she had just took.

"Trying to ignore these two and read." I huffed, finally admitting defeat and closing the book.

"A losing battle." The tall girl laughed and dropped herself onto the couch next to me.

"So I've realized." I responded.

"Hey, I was being quiet!" Kat huffed in mock offence.

"Hissing every time you're shot is not being quiet." I pointed out.

"Well I was definitely not being quiet!" Danni beamed, hopping onto Rikki's lap, making her wrap her arms around her mate so she wouldn't fall off, effectively making our couch a cat pile.

"Thanks." I grumbled under the added weight of Rikki's legs once Danni's weight was added to her.

"Alright, now that you're all not so absorbed in whatever you were doing, we have to figure out what we're gonna do about Charlie." Rikki spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks that we're all leaving in two days. I hardly think that you want to leave your mate now that you've found her." Rikki elaborated.

"Shit…" I cursed quietly.

"So, in other words, we need a reason to stay." Kat said as she scooted over towards the couch. When she made it over she leaned up against my legs and seemingly began to think.

"Relapse?" Danni suggested.

"It would be reasonable considering the Cullens came back." Rikki mused.

"If my dad thought that the Cullens sent me down into depression again I have no doubt that he'd try to kill at least one of them, specifically Edward." I shot the idea down.

"Pregnancy?" Danni tried again, but the smirk on her face made it clear she was kidding.

"Yeah, 'cause Bella just loved my dick so much." Kat snorted from her position on the floor.

"Any actual suggestions?" I asked once Kat was done shaking against my legs.

"We could always say that there was an accident at the group home you were supposed to be speaking at, and that they aren't allowing any visitors until it all blows over." Kat suggested.

"What kind of accident?" I asked, knowing that the story had to be airtight.

"Suicide? That way the house would have been hit by something tragic, and people would understand why we wouldn't want to show up and mess with the recovery period." Kat proposed.

"Should work." I shrugged.

"Then you can tell Charlie. Soon." Kat told me.

"Let's just hope he runs with it." I muttered.

"Look at it this way, if the wolves decide that they need to rip us apart, it won't matter if he does or not." Rikki threw out, causing Danni to gasp and smack her arm. "Watch it Little Leo, if you keep hitting me I'll drop you."

"You wouldn't dare." Danni mock growled at her.

"Try me." Rikki challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"If you drop me, then I won't kiss you for a whole week."

"Like you'd be able to hold out like that." I laughed, poking her feet.

"Hey!" She yelped.

"Not like I mind." Rikki brushed off and squeezed the tiny girl tighter.

"You all suck!" Danni pouted, prompting Rikki to kiss the expression off her face.

"And you love us for it." Rikki murmured against her girlfriend's lips.

"Yes. Yes I absolutely do."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry this took a little longer than normal, but I had a busy week school-wise, then I possibly got food poisoning on Friday, so I didn't do anything... Anyway, hop you all enjoy!**

**nightterror56 and Sintira: You two both win for noticing the My Drunk Kitchen reference! (By the way, if you've never seen MDK, YouTube it right now)**

**motoklaxon: Yes, I had a great time with Liara in first Mass Effect, she's so socially awkward and adorable, and I can't wait for this weekend because I'm going home so I can play the second one!**

* * *

The next day had me standing outside Charlie's door, trying to work up the courage to just raise my hand and knock. Truthfully, I was nervous that my dad wouldn't believe the story we had come up with. I should have been used to it by now, coming up with explanations to justify my actions or changes, but this time felt different somehow.

Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I knocked on the door, knowing that the turmoil in my head wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing here?" Charlie asked once he saw me standing there.

"Well… I needed to tell you something, and I figured I'd stop by to do it." I answered after a brief pause.

"Come on in then." He smiled and opened the door up while ushering me inside. I made my way into the living room, taking a seat on one of the couches while he settled into his recliner and faced me. "So what's up?"

"For starters, it's kind of late notice, but we're not going to Ohio anymore." I told him.

"What? Why?" He asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"There was a suicide at the group home. The leaders asked us if we could put off the trip for a little while so that the community could recover from the loss." I ran over the story I had been practicing for a while now.

"That's understandable I guess."

"Yeah. So we're going to stay in Forks for a bit longer. After all, we have the house for four more months."

"Bella, is there some other reason you're not going?" Well, he got straight to the point with that one…

"No Dad, there isn't."

"So the fact that the Cullens are back didn't change anything?" He asked, clearly already with his own conclusion drawn.

"Dad, I'll be honest with you. Edward came and talked to me today." I told him.

"And?" He growled.

"And I punched him straight in the face." I finished with a satisfied smile.

"Really?" My dad asked, clearly not expecting that.

"Yes. He had some insane idea that I was going to jump into his arms and we'd live happily ever after. I had to burst that bubble. That and he insulted Kat." I darkened a bit as I recalled the conversation.

"As a dad I'm very proud of you. As a cop, I'm not sure you should have told me." Charlie laughed.

"That's why I told you when you were off duty. And I highly doubt that he'd want to press charges, because that would mean admitting to getting his ass kicked by a girl." I beamed.

"Smart kid… So how is Kat taking the Cullens being back?"

"She's… not super happy about it." I answered, feeling a bit awkward.

"Understandable. I'd keep her away from Edward though. She has a fighter in her, that much is obvious. I have no doubt she could take the boy down." Charlie smirked.

"Trust me, I have no doubt either." I agreed.

"Alright then. Was there anything else you needed to talk about?" Charlie asked, picking up on my hesitation. Say what you will about him, but he was very observant when he wanted to be.

"Um, well… Kat and I broke up." I muttered, still a bit guilty over the whole thing.

"What!? But you two seemed so happy together."

"We are, were, um… We just kind of realized that we worked better as friends than anything else." I stammered.

"Bella, I saw the way that girl looked at you. She's crazy about you."

"I know!" I growled out, slamming my fist onto the couch, unable to hold the anger in. "And I don't fucking deserve that! I can't love her that way, I've tried and I just can't." I finished close to tears.

"Bells…" Charlie got up and placed a hand on my shoulder, prompting me to look up at him. "Look, I'm sorry. I just thought you two would last a very long time. But if you can't reciprocate her feelings then you did the right thing."

"It doesn't make me feel any less shitty."

"Because you hurt someone you care about. Of course you're going to feel bad about it." Charlie told me.

"I just want her to be happy." I murmured as I choked back my tears.

"Look, most people in your situation wouldn't have done anything. They would have gone on with the relationship because they wouldn't want to hurt anyone, or they would be scared of letting go of someone that they love, no matter what way. The fact that you're giving both of you a chance to be happy just shows me how brave you really are, and how much you care about Kat. One day both of you are going to find someone that makes you happier than anything else." He assured me.

"I really hope so…"

**XXXXX**

"So how'd the Charlie thing go?" Danni asked me as soon as I walked into the door.

"Fine. He believed the story, so we have no problems there." I told her, heading to the kitchen to grab a snack.

Just as I was about to start eating a slice of pizza my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Flipping it open I saw that it was a text from Jake, causing me to smile slightly. Opening it, the smile quickly disappeared to be replaced by an expression of horror.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Danni asked, grabbing onto my arm. Instead of responding I simply turned the phone so that she could read the message.

_Bella, the Council decided that your pride should be welcomed, but for some reason Sam went insane at the decision. He's ordered us to attack. We're leaving in five minutes. Get somewhere safe. I'm so sorry._

"Kat!" As soon as Danni had read the message I took off to find the Alpha. "Kat!"

"Dear Goddess, what's with the yelling?" Kat asked as she ran down the stairs wrapped only in a towel. Apparently we had interrupted a shower.

"The Wolves are coming for us. They're leaving the Rez in five minutes. Less now." I rapidly explained.

"Fuck." She hissed under her breath. "The Cullens." She grabbed my shoulders and all but yelled at me.

"What?"

"Get to the Cullens. Maybe with all 12 of us the wolves won't attack. And if they decide they have to, then we won't be outnumbered at least." She explained.

I nodded and followed her as she ran for the front door. Danni appeared as we shot out of the house, Rikki trailing closely behind her. Kat took the lead, dropping her towel before leaping into the air and landing on four paws.

"_What do we do if the wolves attack?"_ I heard Danni ask.

"_We fight. We have to."_ Kat answered.

It didn't take us long to reach the Cullen Mansion, the four of us bursting from the trees into the clearing to be met with all 8 members of the Cullens standing defensively in front of the house. Upon seeing that it was us, most seemed to relax, the exceptions being Edward and Alice.

"Bella, what's going on? I got this horrible feeling, like something terrible was going to happen." Alice ran up to me and hovered her hands around my face. I paused slightly at that. Did that mean her visions were starting to come back? And that they were going to work on shifters?

"All of them are panicking. And they're terrified." Jasper spoke up.

"So what's the problem?" Emmett asked.

"_How are we supposed to tell them?"_ Rikki asked.

"_I have an idea."_ Danni chirped to get all their attention. Once all eyes were on her she started panting with her tongue flopped out of the side of her mouth. Then she tilted her head back and let out the closest thing to a howl she could, though it sounded eerily like the noise she made when I stepped on her tail once.

"Um, the wolves?" Alice asked after a brief pause, and I gave her a nod. "I'm guessing they aren't too happy about you all?" I shook my head.

"I can hear their footsteps." Jasper spoke up. As soon as he spoke up I trained my ears to the forest and found I could hear the footfalls of a large group of animals, giving me a sense of déjà vu from yesterday.

Turning towards the forest, I found my tail resting on Alice's shoulders of its own accord, as if to reassure me that she was still there. To my left I could see Rikki try to inconspicuously stay slightly in front of Danni, who snorted at the gesture and made sure that they were shoulder-to-shoulder. Kat stepped slightly forward, as to assert herself as the Alpha.

The wolves burst out of the trees a moment later, a huge beast of a black wolf in the lead. All ten on the wolves fell slightly behind their Alpha; a collective growling resonated from them, the noise vibrating through my body.

Kat stepped forward and focused her gaze solely on the large black wolf; through the pride-bond I could almost feel her focus. I remember back when she explained shifter's abilities to me, she spoke of a metal link two Alpha's could create, and I assumed that she was doing just that.

"_Why are you threatening my pride?"_ I heard Kat's voice faintly in my head, almost as if someone had taken the volume on an iPod and turned it down several clicks. I was confused as to why it was so quiet, but didn't raise any questions as my Alpha had plenty to deal with at the moment.

"_You threaten the people we swore to protect."_ I heard a rough growling voice snap back, and I assumed it belonged to Sam. Kat's head tilted to the side slightly at the accusation.

"_I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot if you think that we're threats. So let's try again. My name is Katherine, and-"_

"_I don't give a damn what your name is, I only want you gone!"_ Sam growled in his head and out loud, causing Danni and Rikki to tense.

"_Goddess I wish I knew what they were saying…"_ Rikki muttered.

_You can't hear them?_ I asked her, sparing a quick glance at her.

"_Of course not. It's an Alpha conversation."_ Rikki replied.

_But I can._

"_What? That's not possible!"_ Rikki argued.

"_Look, we'll figure this out later, but now Bella should be focusing on the conversation, because if it goes badly she can give us a heads up. It'll give us an advantage over the wolves, because their Alpha would have to sever the connection with Kat to tell his wolves to attack."_ Danni spoke up, and I gave her a quick nod to tell her I understood.

"_-monsters! You're all a threat to the humans here!"_ I listened back in as Sam began mentally yelling again.

"_We just want to stay here in peace. My cats have done nothing to warrant your hatred, nor your paranoia about our presence."_ Kat argued back, obviously trying very hard not to just snarl at the stubborn dog.

"_As if attacking humans wasn't bad enough, allying yourself with the leeches just solidifies yourselves as threats!"_

"_Attacking humans? But we'd never-"_

"_ENOUGH!"_

With one last mental snarl Sam leapt at Kat, not even bothering to order his wolves to attack, fangs and claws ready to tear into her pelt. Of course, Sam had no way of knowing just how fast Kat's reflexes were, so just as quickly as he leapt she was rearing onto her back legs to meet his strike head on.

Just before Sam could tackle Kat a gray streak flashed in the corner of my eye, slamming into Sam's side and sending him sprawling into the grass. A snarling gray wolf now stood in front of Kat, tensed to attack at the slightest threat.

"_What in the world?"_ I heard Kat ask as she brought her front paws back down to the ground.

"_Isn't that the female wolf?"_ Rikki asked.

_It is the smallest one._ I responded, looking over her. _Damn, she's fast, ramming into Sam and all._

Sam slowly brought himself back up to four paws, stalking slowly towards our gray protector. She let out a bark, effectively stopping the bristling wolf in his tracks. His piercing yellow gaze went from her to Kat, then back to her. After a moment he let out a harsh chopped huffing, reminding me of a laugh, though there was no mistaking the lack of humor in the noise. The female wolf tilted her head in confusion, but her Alpha simply let loose one last growl before stalking back into the trees.

One by one the other wolves followed him, in the end leaving only two in the clearing, one was the huge russet form of Jacob, but the other was a small sandy colored wolf, unfamiliar to me. Not really a shock considering I only knew Jacob and no other wolves in the pack.

"_Any idea what just happened?"_ Danni asked, still tense and ready for anything.

"_Not really. One second the Alpha's yelling and the next-"_

Whatever Kat was going to say was cut short as the gray female turned around and their gazes met. I was suddenly filled with the same feeling I got when I looked at Alice, only this time I was experiencing it second-hand, so it wasn't quite as powerful. Kat, on the other hand, looked torn between falling over and leaping at the small wolf now looking at Kat with a semi-terrified look on her face.

"_She's Imprinted!"_ Danni shrieked in happiness, the next moment tackling into Kat's side. Kat, not expecting it, stumbled slightly, but managed to catch herself, but never once took her gaze off of her Imprint, who growled slightly at Danni's attack. Danni took the hint and backed up a step, not wanting to provoke anything.

"Anyone want to inform those who don't speak feline what's going on?" Marina spoke up, shocking me back into realizing that we were standing in front of a coven of vampires.

"The gray wolf Imprinted on the snow leopard." Edward answered in an apathetic tone.

"Two in two days in the same group. What're the chances?" Emmett asked with a laugh.

"_We're going to have to change back."_ Kat finally spoke up.

_And do you want to be naked the first time your Imprint sees you?_ I walked up to her side and asked her, bumping her shoulder.

"_Why not? She had no problem being naked in front of you."_ Rikki drawled.

"_Shut up! That was after we had all shifted back. Besides, I don't really need an entire coven seeing me naked…"_ Kat grumbled.

"The wolves are going to go into the woods and put some clothes on. They suggested that you do the same." Edward spoke up again, obviously not enjoying his role as translator.

"_Our clothes are back at our house."_ Rikki pointed out.

_Then we'll borrow some._ I said, turning to face the vampires, and walking up to Alice. _I hate this whole charades thing…_

"I'm guessing none of you have clothes with you." Alice said, bopping me on the nose. Her statement surprised me slightly, but I managed to nod after a moment. "Then I'll grab you some. Though I don't think we have anything tall enough for Rikki." She informed the leopard who was mentally griping about wearing clothes covered in vampire stink.

Alice zipped into her house and reappeared after a minute, holding several sets of clothing, hopefully all generally the right sizes for us.

"Alright, Rikki." She called out and the leopard made her way tentatively over to the tiny vampire. Alice held out a bundle that Rikki took after a moment of pause, before disappearing into the trees. "Danni." The process repeated with the lioness, who made her way right after her mate. "Bella." I grabbed the clothes she held out for me, and was quickly joined by Kat before Alice even had a chance to call out her name.

Kat lead us towards the area Danni and Rikki had disappeared to, and once there we were all shifted back and pulling on clothes.

"These smell like vamp." Rikki grumbled, pulling on a shirt that obviously belonged to Emmett.

"It's better than going nude." Kat muttered back as she pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. It seemed Alice tried to play it safe and gave us all simple shirts and shorts, though I had a feeling that it killed the little fashionista to do so.

"It's not that bad." Danni tried with a forced smile.

"It really is kind of bad." I admitted.

"Too bad you're freakishly taller than Alice, so you can't borrow her stuff. At least then your nose wouldn't burn." Danni chuckled.

"That's alright, I'll just sit really close to you." I laughed and picked up her tiny frame, spinning her around and inhaling deeply.

"Stop that!" Danni laughed.

"Come on, stop messing around. We have to go." Kat said, and when I looked over at her I saw she was bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"Alright, alright." I laughed and set Danni down. "Come on," I hooked my arm through Kat's and pulled her with me, "let's go meet your Imprint."

* * *

**Also, this chapter is dedicated to a whole bunch of the reviewers, who were the inspiration for Kat's Imprint. So thanks to ShadowCub, BellaFan, Daeru, gilo, manticore-gurl071134, Rain Addict CM, sexyoutlaw, and a guest**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but school is wrapping up, so professors feel the** **need to give way too much stuff all at the same time. **

**Also the elusive creature known as "a social life"** **has sunk its claws into me, and I can't get free... I used to write on the weekends, but now I don't have time, so I have to fit it into my week somewhere. But I go home in less than a month, and hopefully that will let me write much more often!**

**I still don't own Twilight**

* * *

**Kat's POV**

Walking back into the clearing outside the vamp's house had my stomach tied up into so many different kinds of knots that I didn't know if it would ever go back to normal. I had finally found my Imprint, after almost 50 years of a strange mix of pain and almost-happiness, I had the chance to be complete.

In some respects being a shifter did suck, mainly the fact that we needed our mate to feel like our life was full. Sure, we could try to fill the hole with someone other than our mate, and we could be happy. But there was always be that terrible nagging in the back of our heads that you might leave them one day, or in my case, that they might leave you. And I had other things in my life that made life a bit better, like a wonderful pride, but seeing them all with their true mates, even if Bella was still completely awkward around hers, it hurt a bit. I had spent countless nights fearing that I'd never find my true mate, that I'd be alone forever as some sort of sick punishment for my past.

"You look like you're going to pass out." Rikki drawled from right next to me.

"I might." I mumbled back as we left the comforting cover of the trees.

"Relax. She Imprinted on you, you Imprinted on her, everything is going to be fine." Danni chirped, ever the positive one.

"Let's just hope so…"

Walking into the large open area, I was immediately scanning for her, passing over the vampires that were still standing on the porch watching their guests uneasily. Following their gaze, I saw the small group of wolves that decided to stay.

One was Jacob, the wolf Bella had the little chat with yesterday, towering above his two companions, looking mostly at ease, though I could still see the tension in his stance. The male next to him was only a kid, no more than 14 or 15, obviously a new wolf. He was cute in that adorable kid kind of way, and didn't seem too bothered to be standing near a coven of vampires. He must have been the smaller sandy wolf that never left, and thinking back I remembered the oversized paws and look of wonder in those big brown eyes.

The last member of the little group was obviously the gray wolf that saved me from the crazy Alpha earlier. She was taller than the youngest wolf, and probably an inch or so taller than myself, but still shorter than Jacob, though I doubted many were taller than the giant. Her dark eyes shifted uneasily around the clearing, as if expecting an attack at any moment. She stood completely rigid, obviously wanting nothing more than to bolt from the clearing that smelled of her kind's primal enemy.

Eventually her eyes fell on my pride, and she quickly scanned each of our faces, finally stopping on mine with a look of utter confusion on her face. After a moment she seemed to try to get her expression under control, but I could still see the uncertainty shining in her eyes.

Pulling on my arm, Danni moved me gradually closer to the girl, and I was struck with how beautiful she looked. She was definitely more on the exotic side, with almond shaped eyes that somehow shinned even though they were dark brown and strong features. Dark hair hung to her chin, slightly mussed, though just shifting back had probably done that. She held herself in a very refined manner, though the subtle muscle hidden under her skin had me thinking that she could get down and dirty if she needed to.

Due to the constant tugging on my arm, I finally made it to the small group of wolves, but my gaze never left the female's.

"Hi." I managed to get out before the silence got to me.

"You're a girl." She blurted suddenly.

_Well, shit… _ I grumbled in my head.

"Considering how old I am, it's probably more accurate to call me a woman, but sure, let's go with it." I chuckled uncomfortably.

"Sorry." She grimaced slightly, hopefully more at her own outburst and not at my gender. "It's just…"

"You didn't think you were interested in women?" I supplied and she nodded sheepishly.

"That's alright, Bella didn't think so either, but Kat got her to see the light." Danni spoke up, probably thinking she was helping. Two sets of growling met her words, one coming from the vamps and one coming from the wolf shifter in front of me.

"Danni." I growled at my tiny pride-mate that didn't quite know when to keep her mouth shut. She should know that new mates tended to be overly possessive.

"What?"

"Anyway." I turned back to the dark-haired girl in front of me, knowing that Danni was just trying to help. "How about we start from the beginning. My name's Katherine, but everyone just calls me Kat."

"Leah." She responded.

"I'm Seth, her brother." The younger wolf spoke up with a huge grin on her face.

"I'm Danni, and this is my mate Rikki, and I think you know Bella already." Danni supplied with just as much as enthusiasm as Seth.

"Well, I think we have a lot to talk about." Leah addressed me. "But I'd prefer to do that somewhere without an audience." She shot a quick glare at the vampires.

"Good call." I agreed. "Any suggestions?"

"I know a place."

**XXXXX**

"A cliff?" I asked once Leah had stopped, still panting slightly.

After a quick goodbye to those in the clearing Leah had taken off running, forcing me to quickly go after her. She didn't even hesitate to leap over the river on the border, landing gracefully on the other side even in her human form. On the other hand, I had to pause briefly after the jump to collect myself and start running after her again. I had never been the fastest of shifters, but Leah seemed to have the speed of a freaking cheetah as she sped through the forest.

Finally, after a lengthy run, we ended up at some cliffs on the Rez, which of course had me glancing around to make sure a certain wolf wasn't going to jump out at me.

"Not quite." She turned and told me with a small smile before she jumped over the side of the cliff.

"What the-" I quickly made my way to the edge to see her hanging to the cliff face, making her way down to a small ledge.

"What are you waiting for?" She looked up and asked in challenge.

So she wanted to play a bit? That I could work with.

With a smirk I focused on the small ledge, then threw myself off the cliff edge. Leah looked panicked for a moment as I dropped past her, but collected herself as I landed on the ledge.

"Are you coming?" I teased as she just hung there staring at me.

"Showoff." She muttered as she made her way down.

"Why yes I am." I chuckled.

"Well Miss Showoff, if you turn around, that's where we're going." Leah informed me as she landed on the platform.

I turned, as per her instructions, and found myself staring into a shallow cave, complete with a blanket on the floor.

"Were you expecting someone?" I asked as I made my way to the blanket.

"No, I just come here a lot to get away." She told me as she sat down.

"What, pack life that stressful?" I sat too, leaning back onto my hands.

"Life in general." She answered, glaring at the blanket.

"Might help to share." I offered.

"Why not?" She chuckled humorlessly before blowing out a long breath. "For starters, I wasn't supposed to shift."

"Right, your kind is mostly male, right?"

"It's supposed to be exclusively male. The sons of the original Alpha are the ones that shift. Then, all of the sudden, I'm a wolf and everyone's freaking out." She said as she pulled her knees to her chest.

"Oh."

"And my poor father, I scared him, and stressed him out so bad that his heart just gave out." She choked out, trying to stop her tears. I had no idea what to do, though I was fighting the urge to get up and wrap her in a hug and try to make it all better. However, I don't think she would have appreciated that very much considering all she knew about me was my name and the fact I was a shifter.

"I'm so sorry." I finally decided to just blurt that out.

"I know he was going to pass soon, he had serious heart problems, but the fact that it was right after I shifted made everything worse."

"Everything?"

"Yeah, there's more. You remember Sam?" She asked, glancing up at me.

"How could I forget your wonderfully kind Alpha?" I sneered.

"He wasn't always that… harsh. In fact, he used to be a really great guy. Kind and caring." As she spoke I could see the pain building up in her face, mixed with the bittersweet tone of her voice.

"You two were together, weren't you?" I asked as gently as I could.

"Yeah, for three years. But then he Imprinted on my cousin." She bit out.

"If it makes you feel any better, I do know how that feels." I told her, laying a hand on her arm. Her head shot up and she met my gaze.

"You're the only one. The rest of the pack keeps telling me to get over it." She gave me a small smile.

"It's not something you get over. Especially when you're that deep in love."

"I was with Sam for three years, you were with Bella for what, two months? It's not really the same." She turned away from me.

"I was with someone for five years when they left me for their Imprint." I told her, trying not to snap. I knew the pain, and how you thought no one could understand, but I didn't like people talking to me like they knew everything about me. "In fact, I was so angry that I tore a chunk out of the poor guy's face. He's going to have to bear that forever, and she's going to be reminded of how much she hates me every time she looks at her mate." I told her, trying to hold back my own tears.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Well now you do." I murmured, starting at the ground and pulling my knees to my chest.

We lapsed into a silence after that, neither of us knowing what to say next. I idly began tracing a scar on my calf, whether it was from claws or fangs I couldn't say. I had a number of scars, all a result of one particularly violent piece of my past, yet all carrying their own story. Luckily only one set caused me any pain anymore; the four long jagged tears in my back that never healed properly. Occasionally they would burn or prickle, an unyielding reminder of the thing that gave them to me.

"How did you get that?" My head shot up at Leah's sudden question.

"Excuse me?"

"The scars." She blushed slightly. "I mean, I don't want to pry, but I thought shifters healed almost instantaneously in most cases."

"My kind heals a bit slower than that, but that's the general idea."

"Then how-"

"There are a few things out there that will permanently scar us. Vampire teeth, the claws and teeth of shifters, certain metals coated in certain herbs, things like that." I finished.

"How do you know so much about all this?" She asked with a humorless laugh.

"Well, being around for fifty years helps."

"Yeah, that would." She paused for a moment before asking the question that I was dreading ever since she started the line of questioning. "Did you get into a nasty fight with another group of shifters or something."

"Or something."

"What happened?"

"Something I really don't want to talk about." She opened her mouth to retort, but I quickly cut her off. "Look, it took me four years to tell Danni and Rikki, and the only reason Bella knows is because she's much more observant and nosy than people give her credit for, and she deserved to know since she was joining the pride, and that still took three months."

"And as your Imprint I don't deserve to know?" Leah's voice held barely concealed anger, making me feel slightly sick.

"You do deserve to know, but I'd rather wait a little bit. It's not a pleasant story, for me or for the people I tell it to. All I'm asking is that you give me a little bit of time. I promise you that I will tell you, just not right now." I was basically pleading with her by the end of my little speech.

"Fair enough." Leah said after a pause. "Besides, it sounds a bit heavy for first date material." She said with a small smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, so this is a date? If I'd have known that I would have worn something that doesn't smell like vamp." I asked with a matching smirk, glad for the change of topic.

"Speaking of, why were you hanging around them? It can't be fun for your nose, and they're vampires, which should be enough for you to avoid them."

"Trust me, if it were up to me I would be far away from the leeches." She looked slightly surprised at my choice of words. "But it's not up to me, Bella Imprinted on one of them. Didn't Jacob tell you that, or didn't you hear it through the pack mental link?"

"He seemed intent on hiding something while we were running towards you. Don't know why." She shrugged.

"Maybe he was trying to hide who we were as humans."

"So which one did she Imprint on? Just tell me it wasn't that horrible mind reader." Leah shuddered slightly.

"No, it was Alice, the little one." I told her.

"So is being into women a requirement for your kind?" She teased.

"Nope, just for my pride." I joked back.

**XXXXX**

**Bella's POV**

I watched as Kat ran after her Imprint, a smile on my face as they all but sprinted from the clearing. Jacob and Seth left shortly after, Jake giving me a huge hug before I could stop him and Seth laughing the whole time. I couldn't help but laugh as well, the big shifter's happiness seemingly contagious. Sadly, that smile didn't get to last long as I heard a voice behind me.

"Bella." I turned slowly to see Edward standing a respectable distance from me.

"Yes?" I growled.

"I was wondering if we could talk, preferably without an audience or any violence this time."

"The violence was avoidable, you're the one that threw Kat out a window." I reminded him.

"And I realize how terrible that was for me to do, and how stupid and reckless I was acting." He assured me, but I was not convinced. After all, not many people change their mind that fast, especially when that person has been around for over 100 years. "Please."

"Fine." I grudgingly accepted, knowing he wouldn't let it go.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rikki asked, placing a hand on my arm.

"I'll be fine unless he does something stupid again." I made sure I spoke loud enough for him to hear me. "And we'll stay close enough that you'll hear any… disagreement." I finally decided on a polite word to use.

"Thank you Bella."

"Let's just get this over-"

As I was grumbling I heard a gasp, prompting me to turn my head quickly to see Alice tense up. Before I could even think about it I was right in front of her, placing my hands on her face and trying to get her to look at me.

"It's just a vision, don't worry Bella." Jasper reassured me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Sadly, I was proven correct as Alice's face contorted in terror and a small whimper left for parted lips.

"Alice, look at me. Please, it's okay." I tried to coax her out of the vision, but her eyes remained glassy, her body tense and shaking, and her face terrified. "Edward, what's she seeing?" I snapped at the mind reader.

"I don't know." He growled in confusion.

"What do you mean you don't know? Can't you see it?" I snarled.

"I can see blurs and flashes. Nothing is making sense." He elaborated, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Bella." A whimper had me snapping my head around to look at Alice, whose eyes were clearing up slightly, though I could still feel tremors running through her.

"I'm right here Alice, it's okay." I reassured her. She let out a small sob and launched herself into my arms.

"They keep getting worse." She said bitterly into my shoulder.

"The visions? Are you saying it's that same vision again?" I asked, stroking her hair.

"Yes. I still can't get anything clear, but I can almost feel the pain and anger of the people in the clearing."

"We'll figure it out, don't worry." I hugged her closer to me, feeling the need to protect and comfort my mate.

Yes, we'd figure it out, we had to, because it was clear that whatever Alice

was seeing was still coming, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

**A/N: So I thought I'd try something new with the 2 points of view, but if you hated it you can let me know, but so many of you seemed to like Kat, so I wanted you to get the chance to be with her while she talked to her mate.**

**As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	10. Chapter 10

"You're sure that you're okay?" I asked for what must have been at least the tenth time as I glanced between Alice and Edward, who was waiting for me at the tree line.

"For the last time, yes! Now go before I push you off our porch." Alice said with a smile, though I could see the remnants of fear in her eyes.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." I grumbled. After a brief hesitation I pulled her into a hug, trying not to dwell too long way she fit perfectly into my taller frame.

Releasing her, I turned and made my way over to Edward, who was still staring at Alice with his brows furrowed.

"You know, some people probably like to have some privacy inside their own head." I threw over my shoulder as I walked into the woods.

"Yes, but it's rather hard to ignore someone that projects as much as Alice does." Edward informed me as he took the lead. "She's basically the opposite of you when it comes to your thoughts. I can never read you, and I can never ignore her."

"That must suck." I admitted, thinking to how I wished I could shut out some of my pride-mates at times.

"I guess I've just gotten used to it." He told me.

"I think we're far enough." I said after a short while, knowing that we were far enough that no one would hear normal talking, but a loud snarl or a scream of pain would definitely be heard. "So what did you need to say to me?"

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around all that's happened recently, and hearing you explain it might help." He confessed.

"Something more specific might help." I tried to say without sneering too much, which caused him to let out a large, and unnecessary breath.

"First, I don't understand how you can claim to hold such a large amount of anger towards me, and yet you can call Alice your mate. She left you too you know." He elaborated. Luckily for him he didn't seem to be accusing me, more so he seemed completely perplexed by it.

"Yes, you both left me. And yes, I am mad at you, but I'm also mad at her. Hell, I'm mad at just about everyone other than my family at this point. But you were the one that decided that your family needed to pack up and leave without so much as a goodbye. You are also the one that told me that I didn't mean anything to you anymore." I felt my anger rising, and paused to take several deep breaths and closed my eyes. "But I want to let go of the anger, and Alice wants to help me try. You, on the other hand, have only yelled at my Alpha and me, then basically called your sister sick for wanting to have a mate. So yes, I'm a bit more receptive to Alice right now than I am to you."

"You're right." His sudden confession had my eyes snapping open to see a pained expression on his face. "I have only met your… pride with hostility. But I would like you to understand that I grew up in a time when everyone followed the social norm, and those who didn't were ridiculed, cast out, or killed in the worst cases. So I have issues accepting changes in society."

"Your sister should mean more to you than your ancient societal views." I growled.

"She does. But you also can't understand how possessive vampires can be. In the monster's mind, she stole you from me. And your Alpha also stole you from me. The beast is telling me to eliminate the competition and take back what belongs to it. And sometimes it's hard to fight one's instincts." His voice held what seemed like a century of pain and self-loathing. Though, in retrospect, he had a century to learn to hate what the monster in his head had made him.

"Look, I know what it's like to fight against an animal in your head. Sure, I haven't had to deal with it for as long as you have, but I can relate." He perked up in hope at my words. "That doesn't mean I'm forgiving you for what you've done." I growled. "You abandoned me, and tried to hurt the person who saved me more than once. Along with the fact that you seem rather pissed at my mate right now."

"I still don't understand that!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "Before you were turned you never showed any interest in women, let alone my sister."

"Maybe because I was unhealthily obsessed with you." I threw back. "Most people try not to think about their boyfriend's siblings in that way."

"So you're saying that it was common courtesy that you stayed with me back then?"

"No, I'm saying that I didn't know what I actually wanted. You pulled me in because I wanted to figure out what you were, then you made me feel special. You were everything a boyfriend should have been, so of course I wasn't thinking about anyone else. But then you left." I shoved an accusing finger in his face. "You left and I was free to think about other people. Of course that was after I got over a crippling depression _you_ left me in."

"I still can't understand." He huffed, turning around.

"How many times can I explain it? I-"

"No, I understand what you're explaining, but I am physically incapable of comprehending your reasoning for thinking of my sister in that way." He cut me off and I found I had nothing to say to that.

A long silence followed his statement, me staring at him as he stared into the woods with a pained expression on his face.

"I'm leaving."

"Fine, I think we're done here anyway." I brushed off and turned to go back to the house.

"No, I mean I'm leaving Forks." His statement had me frozen in place. After a moment I turned around to see that he hadn't moved an inch, making me wonder if I'd imagined his declaration. "I can't stay here and see you and my sister together. Like I said, it's something I just can't understand. That and it will make the beast too angry. You deserve the chance to try and be happy again, you and Alice."

"Where are you going to go?" I choked out.

"Denali I think. I don't want to be alone, but I can't stay here. I'm sure that our cousins will allow me to stay with them for a while."

"Are you ever coming back?" Even if I was pissed at him I didn't want to break up the family.

"I don't know. Maybe one day, when the vampire part of me has let go of you. Until then, probably not." He told me.

"And Carlisle and Esme are okay with this?"

"They aren't happy, but they understand why I have to leave. I don't want to hurt my family, and the only way that will happen is if I leave."

"So you're not even going to try to fix this." I motioned to myself and behind me, knowing he would know what I meant.

"I can't. I want to, but I can't as long as I want to have you for myself. You deserve happiness. You and Alice." He grudgingly admitted.

"When are you leaving?"

"Now. It's not like I need anything for the journey." He let out a humorless chuckle. "I know it doesn't mean anything to you, but I am sorry for all the pain I've caused you." He turned towards me, the first time he had moved since he told me he was leaving and gave me a sad smile. Then he turned and disappeared into the woods.

"You'd be surprised how much it does mean…" I murmured into the wind.

**XXXXX**

"I take it the talk went well." Rikki's voice sounded from my right as I broke out of the tree line and into the clearing by the Cullen's mansion. I just shrugged and headed for the porch where Alice was standing. My emotions were still a wreak from the conversation with Edward, and I didn't really feel like sharing at the moment.

"Where is the vampire anyways?" Danni asked my retreating form.

"Gone." I answered shortly.

"Gone?" She caught up to me and grabbed my arm to stop me. "You didn't…"

"He left." I kept my gaze focused on one of the pillars next to the door. "He said he didn't want to cause any trouble."

"You're telling me a leech actually considered someone else's feelings for once? That's a first." Rikki scoffed.

Her remark had me whirling around and snarling, my heightened emotions clouding my judgment. Really I should have never challenged any other cat in my pride, considering they had all been around for much longer than me, but I couldn't help it.

"Remember that you're talking about my mate's family."

"I think you should remember just who you're snarling at cub." Rikki bared her teeth and hissed out.

"So asking you to respect my mate and her family is too much for you Rikki? And I thought I was the one with the least control." I threw back.

"Bella…" Danni warned, knowing just how hotheaded her mate could be.

"Oh, it's not a question of control, just a matter of natural species to species hate. It's not my fault you Imprinted on a vamp _and_ managed to emotionally scar our Alpha at the same time."

"Fuck you!" I yelled at her now smirking face, feeling the prickling of tears in my eyes.

"You want to let out some of that anger?" Rikki's smirk was ever-present as she challenged me. "Bring it." She declared, her arms held out in a classic "come at me" stance.

So of course I charged her, swinging a fist at her face. With a blinding speed she grabbed my fist, jerked my arm behind my back, and had me on the ground with a knee pressed firmly into my spine. I growled into the dirt I was currently eating, furious with myself at how easy she had pinned me.

"I leave for less than a fucking hour and you two already manage to try to kill each other?" The voice of our Alpha boomed from somewhere behind me. "Rikki, get off of her."

The horrible pressure to my back let up, and as soon as I was able I was on my feet, tensed for another attack.

"You are ridiculously lucky that the vampire didn't rip your head off for a stunt like that." Kat growled at Rikki, who was staring a hole into the ground. I turned to my left to see Alice with a deep scowl on her face, her teeth bared as she took in the exchange. "And you," my head turned to see Kat glaring at me, "I don't care how emotional you are, or how much of a bitch Rikki is being, attacking a pride-mate is not something you do. You're lucky that she has enough control not to rip you to shreds. Now Rikki, take Danni and go back home. Bella, stay here and cool off."

Rikki, a scowl still on her face, turned to her mate and took off into the woods. Kat gave me one more stern glare and followed them soon after, leaving me alone in a clearing feeling like a moron.

"Thank you." Alice's voice was suddenly next to me, causing me to jump a little.

"Huh?"

"For standing up for my family to your pride-mate. Telling her not to call us leeches." Alice elaborated, a small smile on her face. "And I'm sorry I didn't help right away, I wasn't sure how well you'd react to me attacking her."

"You could have roughed her up a little bit, she deserved it. And it's no problem. You're my mate, and they're your family, and at one point I called them mine. And family sticks together, right?"

"They're still your family, if you want them to be."

"I'd like that, yes. But again, I still need some time before I'm ready to jump back into family life with you all." I told her.

"I know. I just wanted you to remember that we all do care about you."

"Even Rosalie?" I teased, bumping her shoulder.

"Yes, even Rosalie, even if she is horrible at expressing it." Alice teased back, making sure her voice was loud enough that her sister heard the remark. A quiet hiss soon followed her words, letting us know exactly what the blonde in question thought of that notion.

"Listen, about Edward…"

"Don't. It's not your fault. And it's not my fault. He just needs some time." Alice cut me off, her tone suggesting that she had been telling herself this for a long while.

"Alright." I said, figuring that going any deeper into the topic would break the tiny girl beside me.

"Were you serious when you called me your mate? Or were you just trying to get Rikki to back off?" Alice suddenly asked in a small voice.

"Alice," I prompted her to turn towards me, and when she remained unmoved I grabbed her shoulders to physically move her frame to face me, "of course I was serious. I want to try to make this work, which means that ignoring or rejecting it would be counterproductive. I found my true mate and now I want to be with her, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled, for real this time, and pulled me in for a big, bone-crushing hug. Once she pulled back I saw a dangerous gleam in her eyes, causing me to gulp.

"I don't think I like that look." I admitted sheepishly.

"I think it's time I took you on a proper date." She declared, ignoring my statement.

"A proper date?"

"Yes. Dressing up, dinner, walks in the park, all those cheesy clichés." She declared.

"And you're going to take me out?" I laughed, not expecting Alice to be such the dominant one in a relationship.

"Of course! No offence Bella, but I feel I know a bit more about romance than you." She told me.

"Offence taken! I can be romantic when I want to be." I protested.

"Well then, you can show me. But after our first date. I'll pick you up Friday at seven." She decided with a firm nod. "Now you head back home and figure out why Rikki decided to be extra catty today." She paused as she realized what she said. "No pun intended." And with that she was zipping back inside her house.

"What just happened?"

* * *

**A/N: So I was bad and wrote instead of studied for exams... That said, sorry it's short, but I am currently taking exams, and that sucks.**

**Anyway, as cliché as it is, there will be a Bellice date in the next chapter. Also, there will be some more background on the pride, and an explanation for Rikki's behavior (she's not normally that bad, I promise). I'll try to get that up by next weekend, as my last exam is Wednesday, but I won't promise anything, because I don't know how much "family time" my mother will impose when I get home.**

**As always, I own only the pride, nothing else. And reviews are the magical elixer that will keep me from failing my exams!**


	11. Chapter 11

Friday evening had me standing in front of a mirror, scowling at the third outfit I had tried on for the night. Now, I wasn't one that cared much for what I looked like normally, but for some reason the date with Alice had my inner teen-girl coming out. Everything felt wrong, and it bugged me; mostly because I was supposed to still be holding Alice on probation. But the little pixie had wormed her way right back into my heart, just like she had the first time. Before I knew what was happening she was already one of the most important people in my life, someone I cared for deeply and would protect at all costs. Even the thought of being mad at her had me feeling like a terrible person.

Sure, the panther inside my head probably had something to do with that, but Alice herself definitely did too. She had an aura that just drew people to her, one that just made people want to be around her. And it made people happy to be around her, even the other humans at school who were normally so weary around vampires. It drove me nuts trying to figure the dark-haired girl out.

A light knock at my door broke me out of my inner monologue, and Kat's head soon appeared in the doorway.

"You told me to come get you at six thirty." She told me as a greeting. "You look nice." She added on with a genuine smile as she entered my bedroom. The bedroom I had to start using every since the Cullens got back.

"Thanks." I blushed slightly and looked myself over once more.

I had chosen to go simple; an emerald green button up, a black vest, black jeans, and a pair of boots. When Kat stepped into the room I noticed that she seemed to be dressed to go out as well; she was wearing a light purple V-neck, a pair of black shorts, and a pair of sandals.

"Going somewhere?" I asked, happy to get the attention off of me; I had never been comfortable as the center of attention.

"Uh, yeah." This time it was her turn to blush. "Leah said that some of the more… friendly wolves are having a bonfire and she invited me."

"That's fun." I was happy that Kat and Leah seemed to be trying to get closer. And since Danni and Rikki had been gone all week on an extended hunting trip, mostly for Rikki to cool off, I was happy that Kat wouldn't be all by herself on a Friday night.

"Should be." She agreed.

Not knowing what else to say I turned back to the mirror and started looking over my outfit and hair again. The behavior had Kat laughing after a moment.

"Stop worrying about that and go downstairs. I hear your date arriving."

"What?!" I yelped and pushed past her, running down the stairs, caught by surprise at how much time had passed.

"Have fun tonight!" I heard Kat yell at my retreating figure right before I heard a knock at the front door.

Taking several deep breaths to calm my nerves, I opened the door to see Alice standing there looking like she was holding in laughter.

"Not a word." I huffed at her, which of course caused her to break into full out laughter.

"Sorry." She managed to get out after a moment after taking deep breaths she didn't need. "Shall we?" She motioned behind her rather dramatically.

"We shall." I chuckled as I left the house.

"I expect her back by one!" The distinct voice of Kat called out from the upstairs open window, causing me to burry my head in my hands as I glanced at Alice out of the corner of my eye.

"So early?" Alice turned and mock-whined up at Kat.

"Fine, two. Just treat my little girl well, ya hear me?" Kat mocked a terrible manly southern accent as she leaned out the window and pointed a finger at Alice.

"Of course sir." Alice threw an exaggerated salute.

"Okay, we're done now!" I groaned up at Kat.

"You're no fun." Kat chuckled and thankfully closed the window.

Once I was certain Kat was done trying to embarrass me half to death, I raised my head to find Alice's car so that we could leave. Upon seeing the car however, I had to take a slight pause.

"That's your car?" I breathed out as my eyes roamed over the body.

Now, I wasn't a car person, but even I could appreciate that the vehicle parked in my driveway was incredibly nice, and definitely ridiculously expensive. The car itself was painted a bright yellow, and according to the symbol it was a Porsche of some sort.

"Gorgeous, right?" Alice beamed and pulled my along. "Just wait 'till you see how she drives."

"If it works half as well as it looks then it will still work at least fifty times better than anything I have or ever will own." I chuckled as I got into the car through the door Alice had so graciously held open for me.

Alice only met my remark with a laugh of her own as she started the car, the noise sounding a strangely satisfying purr, and smoothly backed out of the driveway.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as the vampire raced down the back roads at a speed that would definitely be frowned upon by any law enforcement.

"It's a surprise." Alice turned to give me a bright grin before turning her attention back to the road.

"Alice." I complained, which came out as a long and drawn out whine. She simply smirked and turned down a small dirt track that didn't even appear to be a road.

After only a short while the car started to slowly come to a stop, Alice opening my door before I even really registered that she had apparently arrived at our destination. As I stepped out of the car Alice ran to the trunk, retrieving a small basket smelling strongly of food. Scanning the surroundings quickly, I found nothing but the dirt road we drove in on, and woods surrounding us.

"I hope you don't mind a picnic. I figured it would look weird if we went out to a restaurant and I didn't eat anything." Alice said, suddenly sounding very unsure of herself.

"A picnic sounds perfect." I assured her. "Lead the way."

A bright smile replaced the look of uncertainty, and she quickly took my hand and started leading me through the forest. After a moment Alice's smile turned into a challenging smirk and she picked up her pace, effectively dragging me behind her.

"I thought you were all fast and graceful now Bella." She teased as she led me on.

Matching her smirk I picked up my own pace, slowly closing the gap between us and eventually running right next to her, our joined hands swinging between us. I knew she was holding back, after all there was no way I could keep up with a vampire in my human form, but it still felt good to have her push me, and me being able to rise to the challenge. For once I felt like an equal compared to the supernatural beings that had intertwined themselves into my life.

Eventually Alice began to gradually slow her speed, making me realize that we were getting close to wherever her destination was. I was proved right a moment later as Alice pulled me into a moonlight clearing, already bearing a blanket spanning a large portion of the ground. We made our way over to the blanket, and Alice released my hand to sit down, setting the basket next to her. Immediately I missed the feeling of her hand in mine, but I pushed that feeling aside and sat down on the other side of the basket, facing the raven-haired girl.

"The food is courtesy of Esme. Sadly I'm hopeless in the kitchen, but she was more than happy to help me. I told her to keep it simple, so I hope everything is okay." Alice informed me as she flipped open the basket.

I peered inside to find three sandwiches nestled next to two bottles of water, a bag of chips, and an apple.

"The food is perfect, thank you." I responded as I pulled out a sandwich and unwrapped it. As soon as I started eating I noticed Alice watching me with obvious curiosity. "Do I have something on my face?"

"What? Oh, no! Sorry, it's just… I don't remember anything about food, or what it's like to have to eat everyday." She admitted, her hands flailing and revealing how flustered she was.

"Oh, right…" I mumbled and took another bite of the sandwich, not knowing how to fill the sudden silence.

"Anyway," Alice was the first to speak, "did you ever figure out why Rikki was being difficult?"

"Well," I swallowed my bite before continuing, "she actually took off shortly after she went back to the house. Her and Danni have been on an extending hunting trip for the past few days."

"Oh, so that's a no?"

"Actually, I thought about it and figured it out." I answered. Alice was very obviously trying not to let loose a barrage of questions as I took a sip of water to clear my throat for the explanation. "Rikki had an interesting childhood, but it lead to her becoming very protective of those she actually lets close. Apart from Danni, Kat is the most important thing in her life."

"And you? You're her pride-mate after all." Alice interrupted.

"Rikki would give her life to protect the pride, but I'm a new addition. She's always going to defend Kat over me."

"But you didn't threaten Kat, or do anything to provoke her." Alice protested.

"I didn't threaten Kat, but I hurt her." I murmured, staring into the trees before taking a deep breath and returning my gaze to Alice. "Rikki was mad because, in her mind, I led Kat on, then dumped her." I elaborated.

"But you can't control Imprinting. It wasn't your fault. That and Kat found her Imprint!"

"That is true, but Imprinting doesn't eliminate the feelings we had. I still care about Kat, so I feel terrible that I left her so suddenly. And Kat has been left by two people now because of Imprints, so she'll bear those emotional scars her whole life. Rikki was pissed that I made Kat relive that pain.

"Not to mention, Rikki had been hanging around your family all day, which put her on edge." I elaborated. "She'll be fine when she gets back. And Danni will make sure she behaves. Sadly, Rikki thinks with her claws more than her head most of the time."

"Would Rikki's behavior have anything to do with the past you won't tell me about?" Alice poked me in the side, barely hidden curiosity in her eyes. I was glad that she didn't hone in on the Kat thing.

"Kind of." I grimaced, knowing that she was going to try and get the story out of me. And knowing the girl next to me, she would succeed.

"Can you give me any details?" Alice pleaded, a pout on her lips. And with that one expression I crumbled completely.

"Look, if I tell you the general story will you be happy?" Alice met my question with a small squeal and a vigorous head shake. "Alright, but you have to promise not to let her know that I told you, alright?"

"I swear." She even went as far as crossing her heart with her finger to prove her point.

"Great… Now, you remember when I told you that my kind can be made or born?" Alice nodded. "Good. Another piece is that born shifters tend to have better control, and are slightly stronger than shifters that are made. Bearing that in mind, there was a shifter that wanted to make an army of born shifters to challenge the Volturi."

"That's insane!" Alice gasped.

"Yeah, but shifters really don't like vampires, so it was a risk that the shifter was willing to take. So, he went around to villages and, well… mated with women to get them pregnant. One of those women was Rikki's mother. When she was born her father stole her from her mother, and added her to the growing number of shifters he had.

"Rikki grew up with a group of shifters that were taught that their only goal in life was to kill vampires, especially the Volturi. Luckily, Rikki realized that her father was insane and ran as soon as she shifted." I explained.

"How old was she then?"

"For out kind, born shifters will phase on the first full moon after their sixteenth birthday. And with Rikki, she just didn't shift back; she didn't see a reason to. Eventually she met Danni, then Kat, but that's another story." I finished.

"Wait, that's it? You're not going to tell me how they all met up?" Alice questioned.

"Like I said, that's another story. You'll just have to take me out again to get that story." I smirked at her and continued my meal.

"Are you bribing me to get me to date you?" Alice laughed.

"I think I am."

**XXXXX**

We sat and talked in the clearing for a while after the story, but we eventually agreed that it was late enough that I needed to head home to sleep, and the Cullens would probably wonder where Alice was if she stayed out much later.

So Alice drove me back to my house in her amazing car, and was walking me to the front door all to quickly.

"I had a great time tonight." I smiled and squeezed the hand that was currently intertwined with mine.

"I'm glad. I can officially say our first date was a success then! Except…" Alice trailed off as we reached the door.

"Except what?" I asked, curious as to what her sudden silence was all about.

"There's one more thing to make this night perfect." She explained.

"Wha-"

I was cut off but a pair of very soft lips touching mine, making any words or thoughts stop in their tracks. As gentle as the kiss was, it still set off fireworks and colors exploding behind my eyes, and all those other ridiculous clichés.

"I'll see you soon." Alice murmured as she leaned away from me and made her way back to her car.

I don't know how long I was standing there in a trance, but it was obviously far too long as a door opened behind me and a gentle hand pulled me into the house.

"We definitely need to work on this whole paralysis thing." Kat teased me, punching me lightly on the shoulder before she headed back upstairs.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: As always, I don't own Twilight, obviously or things would be very different. Anyway, reviews are always appreciated!** **They let me know if this story sucks or not!**

* * *

"Bella!" A loud squeal and a solid weight crashing into me woke me abruptly from a deep sleep. Of course, being a terrible morning person, I had no idea what in the world was going on, so my first reaction was to throw myself out of the grip of my attacker. This, of course, caused me to fall half on the ground, as the other person in my bed still had hold of my waist.

"Bella?" The voice called to me again, so I finally decided to open my eyes and try to figure out what was going on.

"Danni?" I squinted into the light that was half-hiding the girl above me.

"Hi Bella." She grinned down at me.

"When did you get back?" I asked her.

"About ten minutes ago." She told me. "Did you want me to let you go?"

"That would be good." I laughed and let my head to fall to the floor. A moment later my lower body joined my upper body on the floor. "Thanks."

"No problem." Danni chirped, then suddenly changed the topic. "So, I heard you went on a date two nights ago." Danni's tone made it obvious she wanted me to tell her everything.

"I did." I simply stated, pushing myself off the floor.

"And?" Danni prompted.

"And what?" I asked innocently as I looked up at her, enjoying the teasing.

"Come on!" Danni whined.

"Fine." I chuckled. "Alice took me on a picnic, we talked, and then she kissed me goodbye at the door."

"She what?!" Danni screeched and threw herself on top of me, knocking me back to the floor and enveloping me in a bone-crushing hug. "Yes! It's about damn time."

"Nice to see you're so interested in my love life." I chuckled, not even bothering to try and get out of the embrace; after all, there was really no point. Danni had quite the vice grip, and not many people actually knew how to break it.

"I'm just happy that it's all working out." She assured me, still gripping me a bit too tightly.

"Great, now could you let up a bit, I think I heard something crack."

"Fine." She gave me one more squeeze and let go. "Ya big baby."

"Thank you."

"Oh!" Danni suddenly exclaimed, hopping up, leaving me sprawled on the floor.

"What?" I asked, a little concerned at the sudden mood change.

"I'm supposed to tell you that we, as in all of us, are going to meet the Council on the Reservation tonight. I guess they decided it was about time to meet their neighbors."

"What about Sam? Did we ever find out what he meant by the attacking people thing?" I asked wearily.

"He won't explain that, but Kat said that Leah said that he was still pissed off, but would never go against the Council's orders." Danni told me, still looking a bit unsure herself.

"Let's hope so…" I prayed.

**XXXXX**

I had just stepped out of the house when I heard a familiar voice calling my name from the woods on my right. Turning, I saw Alice break through the tree line and run up to my side.

"Um, hi?" I greeted, but tilted my head slightly in confusion.

"Sorry for the sudden interruption," she threw behind me at my three pride-mates, "but…" She suddenly broke off, seeming unsure of what she wanted to say.

"But what?" I prompted.

"Well…" She started, then seemed to decide and flew into a rambling explanation. "Recently I've been getting more visions of you, not really true visions, just flashes of images and sounds, but enough to give me an idea of what's going on. And, well, I was checking up on you, and yes, I know that that is kind of an invasion of privacy, but I worry sometimes, and I suddenly saw your future disappear and I got worried. So here I am." She finished all in one breath.

"Geez, and I thought you talked too fast." I heard Rikki mutter to who I assume was Danni behind me.

"You're getting visions of me?" I asked.

"Not just you actually. It's all of your pride." Alice explained.

"And my future disappears soon?" I asked, confused as to why her visions seemed to be so bipolar recently.

"Of course it does." Kat broke in, prompting us all to look at her. "We're going into the other shifter's territory, and Alice can't see them."

"You're going to La Push?" Alice asked, obviously panicked.

"Yes. The council wants to speak with us."

"But they were hostile! You're walking into a place with at least ten wolves that want to hurt you, and a place my family can't go. Are you crazy?" Alice asked, obviously trying not to screech.

"They're not hostile." Kat growled slightly, but seemed to reconsider her words after a moment. "Not all of them at least. And the Council has always wanted to speak with us, but something set the Alpha off. Hopefully we can figure out what it was and fix it."

"It still sounds like a stupid and pointless risk to me." Alice shot back.

"Look, believe it or not, I'm not forcing Bella to come. She can stay here if she wants. So don't get mad at me for her decision." Kat retorted, causing Alice to let out a huff and turn towards me.

"Would you be mad if I asked you to stay?" She asked in a tiny voice, a small pout on her lips.

"No. I get that you're just worried about me." Alice visibly brightened at my words. "But I'm still going. They're my pride and I need to stand with them." Alice's face fell again. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. The wolves won't hurt us, not as long as the Council accepts us."

"Fine." Alice grumbled. "But will you come to see me when you get back? Just to put my mind at ease?"

"Of course." I chuckled, then pulled her tiny frame into a hug. "And for the record, I appreciate that you worry about me."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you later then." Alice pulled away and took a step back.

"Yeah, I promise I'll come straight to your place when we get back." I chuckled.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a shower and change of clothes first." Alice told me and wrinkled her nose. "Those dogs smell horrible."

"'Cause your family smells like a basket of roses…" Rikki grumbled.

Ignoring my snarky pride-mate, I kept my focus on my mate. "Sounds good to me."

"Okay, well, bye then." Alice grinned and sped away.

"Now that that's over with, we ready to go?" Kat asked, raising a brow at me.

"Yeah, sorry." I blushed slightly and hung my head.

"Aww, don't be sorry Bells. I think it's cute that your mate is so protective of you." Danni assured me.

"Yeah, adorable." Rikki's response practically dripped with sarcasm. And to my surprise, Kat snorted in agreement a moment later.

**XXXXX**

We arrived at the meeting spot without any more distractions, all of us stepping out of the car and scanning the present crowd. The wolves were easy to pick out, all being tall, muscular, men, most of which were shirtless, with the exception of Leah of course. The other attendees seemed to be family of the wolves, all talking and gossiping among each other. A handful of older, very dignified looking men, and one woman, sat around a fire pit, all staring directly at us.

"Hey Bella." I turned to see Jacob, leading two other wolves, walking straight towards us.

"Jake." I greeted him with a smile.

"It's good to see you here again." He told me, wrapping me into a hug.

"It's good to be back." I agreed, just then realizing how much I had missed the afternoons spent with Jacob after Edward had left. "So who are these two?"

"Oh, right." He collected himself and motioned to the boy to his left. "This is Quil," and then he motioned to the right, "and this is Embry."

"You've actually met us once before, but we were a bit scrawnier back then." Embry told me with a laugh.

"Speak for yourself! I was never scrawny." Quil protested, playfully smacking Embry on the shoulder.

"You two came around when Jacob was working in the garage, right?" I asked, trying to dive into the semi-painful memories during my depression.

"See, she sees the resemblance." Quil puffed out his chest in pride.

"You're delusional…" Embry face-palmed.

"Whatever." Quil dismissed. "So, who are these lovely ladies? I've met Kat, but not you two."

"Out of your league." Rikki smirked.

"Rikki!" Danni smacked her arm.

"Fine, fine." Rikki threw up her hands in surrender.

"Well, the tall and moody one would be Rikki." I informed them. "The little one is her Imprint, Danni."

"Nice to meet you two." Embry greeted, but I could tell he was a bit disappointed that the two were taken.

"So everyone in your pride is Imprinted on a female?" Quil asked.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Rikki asked, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"No, not at all!" Quil held up his hands to show he didn't mean anything by his comment. "It's just an interesting coincidence is all."

"Rikki just likes to cause trouble, don't worry about her." I assured the terrified shifter.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Leah starting to make her way over towards us, or Kat at least, but a commotion from over by the Council stopped everyone in their tracks.

"That's our cue to head over there." Jacob declared, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"I want to thank you all for gathering today." Billy Black called out. "As many of you have heard, a new group of shapeshifters has moved onto the Cullen's land. Now, in the beginning the pack was unsure of what this new scent on the land was, and deemed it a threat. However, after one of the wolves had a conversation with the shifters, it was agreed that we would hear their case and decide if they were allowed to remain, or if they were a threat.

"However, Sam Uley decided to challenge the shifters as he viewed them as highly dangerous." Murmurs spread through the crowd, and many glanced at the Alpha who was standing slightly apart from the crowd, glaring harshly at my pride. "During this meeting, one of our wolves Imprinted on one of the other shifters. The Council has taken this as a sign that the new shifters are not a threat, as the spirits have blessed the union of our two kinds."

"However, some still are weary of the new shapeshifters." The older man sitting next to Billy spoke up, drawing attention to himself. "Therefore, we ask the leader of this new group to speak her case, and we will make our final decision after."

"Well, that's my cue…" Kat murmured and stepped forward, walking up to the Council. "First, I would like to thank the Council for agreeing to let me speak. My name is Katherine Hathaway, and I'm the leader of my pride. I understand that many of you may be weary of a new kind of supernatural moving in so close, but I promise that we are not a threat to your people.

"I brought my pride here because I thought Forks was going to be a small, quiet town. I had no idea that it was a magnet for supernaturals. After catching the scent of your pack we were content with leaving, but an altercation with a vampire resulted in us adding Bella to our pride, and this is her home. We found it unfair to ask her to leave her entire life behind.

"Once it was decided that we were going to stay, I tried to speak with your Alpha, but our scent set the whole pack off. I don't blame Sam's aggression towards us, so I ask that the challenge on the Cullen land will not held against him. Throughout my life I've learned that many other supernaturals can be very territorial, and in essence, we were invading your land." Kat directed the last part of her explanation at Sam, to which he only nodded slightly.

"But now that our two groups have met each other, I would like to ask that we at least attempt to coexist. I can guarantee that we are not threats to your people, or the people of Forks. We only want to live in peace until we have to move on." Kat finished her speech, and the Council members all shared a glance.

"We believe that you don't wish to be a threat to our people. But there's still the matter of the attacks-" The one woman on the council, I believe it was Leah's mother began to speak, but was cut off abruptly as one of the members of the pack came bursting though the trees panting heavily.

"There's been another attack!" He managed to call out.

"I knew it!" Sam roared, stalking towards Kat. "I knew you were attacking our people!"

"Are you insane? We've been here all this time." Kat stood back, shocked. Danni, Rikki, and I made our way over to Kat to stand by her just incase Sam attacked.

"Who knows, maybe you did it before this meeting. But this is the third human torn apart by an unnaturally large animal. I know for a fact that it's not any of my wolves, so it has to be one of your cats." Sam growled out at her.

Apparently this was Kat's breaking point, with a snarl of her own she grabbed the collar of Sam's shirt and pulled his face down to hers. All of the wolves tensed, surrounding us in a moment.

"You listen to me _pup_," she hissed the word at him, "I may have done some horrible things in my life, but I have never, _ever_, harmed a human. And being accused of killing humans is not the way to get on my good side." She shoved him away, causing him to stumble slightly before collecting himself. "I know for a fact that none of my pride killed anyone."

"Then who is?" Sam snapped.

"I don't know, but if something is killing humans, then we should be working together to stop it, not fighting and blaming one another." Kat barked back. "But if you take me to the body, I might be able to give a guess."

"How do I know you're not going to just attack me as soon as my back is turned?" Sam asked.

"Oh for the love of-" Kat pinched the bridge of her nose. "You bring a wolf, I'll bring a cat. That should work." Kat suggested.

"Fine. Jacob." Sam called for his Beta, who stepped out from right behind me, startling me slightly.

"Bella." Kat walked up to me, surprising me. I had no idea why she'd take me instead of Rikki.

"Why her." Rikki spoke quietly, trying to keep the conversation private.

"Because you'd be far too worried about leaving Danni here with the pack." Kat answered. Rikki opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it and nodded.

"Let's go." Sam called out.

"Lead the way." Kat motioned for Sam to move.

Sam let out a grunt and took off into the forest, Jacob, Kat, and I all following close behind. It wasn't long before a scent assaulted my nose, almost causing me to stop. The stench was like a dead animal, covered in week old blood, drug though dung, and then allowed to hang in the sun for days.

"What is that?" I choked out.

"The smell? It's not that bad." Jake told me.

"No, it really isn't." Kat agreed.

I was about to argue when we broke into a clearing, a little away from a house.

"Sam, isn't that your house?" Jacob asked.

"Yes." He let out a clipped answer.

"That's the body?" Kat asked, motioning to the heap lying on the ground.

"Yes." Sam answered. Kat glanced at him, then made her way over to the dead human. I hesitantly followed, careful to breath out of my nose, because no matter how bad the smell was, I didn't want to have to taste it for the rest of the day.

"Shit…" Kat muttered, as she looked the corpse over. I ran my eyes over it, and had to fight the urge to loose everything in my stomach.

The body had been torn apart by a huge animal, there was no doubt about that. Huge gashes, at least two inches wide ran across the flesh, along with chunks torn out by jagged teeth most likely. Due to all the mutilation, I couldn't even tell if the body was male or female.

"So, any ideas what did this." Sam asked, his anger seemingly gone in the face of the tragedy. Kat didn't answer; instead she continued to examine the body, hovering a hand over a few of the scratches, furrowing her brow at the damage.

Suddenly, Kat leapt up, backtracking at least ten feet from the body, a petrified expression on her face. Her chest began heaving, her eyes turned a pale green, claws extended from her fingers, and fangs were visible in her open mouth.

"Kat! Kat, what is it?" I rushed to her, gripping her shoulders.

"Damn, what's the matter with her?" Jacob asked, rushing up to our side as well.

"Werewolf." Kat whimpered.

"I told you that my wolves aren't responsible." Sam growled.

"No." Kat swallowed hard and shook her head, trying to get control of herself. "An actual werewolf."

"Is that what that smell is?" I asked.

"Yes, but it seems to be much stronger to you for some reason." Kat told me.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess we could…" Kat trailed off suddenly, eyes wide.

"What?" Jake asked, glancing over his shoulder, then spinning around entirely.

I spun around as well, almost jumping out of my skin when I saw a huge beast, at least seven feet at the shoulder, stepping out of the woods. The first thing I noticed was that it looked nothing like an actual wolf; instead, its muzzle was short, drool mixed with blood dripping off of dozens of jagged, razor sharp teeth. Long ears with tufted fur were pressed against its skull. Its front paws looked more like human hands than animal paws, complete with a thumb, each finger tipped with a wicked looking claw coated in blood. Blood, dirt, and who knows what else were matted in its long, tangled brown fur. Massive shoulders towered above its lowered head, and a long tail whipped behind the beast.

With a deafening roar it leapt forward, claws outstretched at the four of us. The wolves leapt left and Kat and I jumped to the right, Kat landing with a roll to end up on her hands and knees. Then, her body started vibrating and a huge snow leopard was suddenly snarling at the werewolf.

Recovering quickly, Sam and Jacob shifted as well, resulting in two huge wolves standing shoulder-to-shoulder facing the beast. Not to be left behind, I shifted as well, standing next to Kat, roaring at the werewolf.

_Is there a trick to killing it?_ I asked Kat.

_ "Don't let it get a hold of you."_ She told me through the link. _"That and aim for the back of its neck."_

The werewolf was swinging its head back and forth between us and the wolves before it suddenly made up its mind and lunged at Sam and Jacob. Kat quickly took off towards the retreating creature, but not before it reached the wolf shifters.

Jacob managed to evade the claws aimed at his head, and even managed to swipe at the werewolf's side as he passed. However, Sam was not so lucky, as he leapt out of the way the werewolf managed to sink a paw into his side, blood spurting from the slashes. To make matters worse, the werewolf claws didn't come out of Sam's flesh, and the black wolf was pulled towards the massive jaws of his attacker a moment later.

Luckily for him, Kat jumped on the werewolf's back at that moment, sinking her claws into its pelt and wrapping her jaws around its neck. I reached the beast a moment later and sunk my teeth into its hind leg.

The beast reared, trying to unlatch Kat, effectively releasing Sam in the process. When Kat held on it landed back on four feet with a thud, then started bucking wildly. Being jerked around rapidly caused my hold to loosen, and a moment later a back foot slammed into my face, knocking me back. Jacob soon took my place, and I returned to hold onto the other leg.

Kat, by some miracle, was still holding onto the back of the werewolf's neck, trying to slowly suffocate the monster in a death bite. And, thankfully, it seemed to be working. The werewolf was slowing down, rearing and bucking with less ferocity due to the loss of both blood and oxygen.

With its last effort, the werewolf managed to flip its upper body over, prompting Kat to let go and jump off its back. Once halfway on its back however, Kat latched back onto its neck, clamping down and holding on even when a clawed foot sliced her left front leg.

Eventually the twitching beast became still, the ragged breathing ceased, and the heartbeat stopped. Kat let go of its neck, and Jacob and I let go of its back legs. With a violent twitch the creature slowly contorted back into a human form, much to my surprise. Instead of a dead werewolf, a battered and bloody man was left lying naked in the grass.

_"That always happens when they die. It's the only time they get to be in this form again, in death."_ Kat's voice rang through my head.

A bark broke my concentration on the now human werewolf, causing me to look up at Jacob as he jogged over to Sam, who was lying in the grass still bleeding. Kat and I made our way over as well, and I noticed that the Alpha was whimpering quietly as his side continued to gush blood.

"Why isn't he healing?" A now human Jacob asked, running his hands over the blood-matted fur.

Kat, needing to communicate with Jacob, shifted back as well. "It's a wound from another supernatural. That means it heals slower and that it's going to scar. He needs medical attention to make sure the gashes heal correctly."

"They can heal wrong? What happens then?" Jake asked.

"Then the scars are much worse, and they'll continue to cause pain his whole life." Kat responded, a hand going to her back where her four gashes still stood out starkly against her skin.

"You need help too then." Jacob pointed out, motioning to her arm.

"This is nothing. Let's focus on him first." Kat said.

Jake nodded then stepped back to shift back, after all if we had to carry a six-foot tall wolf we needed to be in our animal forms. Jacob tried to maneuver Sam onto his back, and I helped, finally managing to get the Alpha on Jacob's back. Kat shifted as well, leading us into the woods.

To make sure Sam didn't fall Kat walked on one side of him, and I walked on the other. The trip was painfully slow, as Jacob couldn't run without Sam falling.

After what seemed like forever, we emerged from the tree line, and effectively walked into chaos.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'd like to start off by saying I don't claim to know anything about living with, or living with someone who has PTSD. I only know what I've read on medical websites, and I've tried to stay as true as I could to the symptoms I've read about. That said, if I've offended anyone, please tell me and I will try to fix anything I've gotten wrong.**

**Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, I want to apologize for the cliffhanger last chapter. I didn't even realize it ****_was_**** a huge cliffhanger. So I tried to write this as fast as possible for you all. Also, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. The reviews make this story so much more enjoyable to write, and inspire me to write as fast as I can. So again, thank you.**

**As always, I don't own Twilight. If I did, there would be lesbians EVERYWHERE! Actually, it's probably a good thing I don't own Twilight...**

* * *

It sounded like dozens of voices were yelling all at once in the clearing. A mix of gasps, snarls, and shouts met us as soon as we stepped out of the trees. But the one noise that rose above all the others was a heart-wrenching cry of pain from one of the women in the clearing.

_How do we want to handle this?_ I asked Kat. Sadly, I was only met with silence. She hadn't said a word to me the entire walk home; in fact, every time I had tried to get into her head I was met with that weird wall that she could somehow put up. I had no idea what was the matter with her, but obviously something was really bothering her.

A woman running straight at the four of us broke me out of my musing, and as she got closer I could see tears streaming down her face. Also, as she got closer I noticed the severe scarring running along the side of her face and disappearing into her shirt.

"Sam? Oh God, what happened?" She sobbed once she reached us, running her hands over the fur on his face.

Luckily, someone had the bright idea to bring Jacob a pair of shorts. So after carefully maneuvering Sam to the ground, Jake shifted back and began to explain to the hysterical woman, along with the dozens of other people that gathered.

"We were attacked by a werewolf. It got a hold of Sam and ripped his side. Kat says that his wounds aren't going to heal quickly like they normally do." Jacob looked up at his father and the rest of the Council. "He needs medical attention."

"And who do you propose we take him to? We don't even know if we can get him to shift back." Billy spoke up.

"The Cullen doctor." Jacob's statement was met with many voices raised in protest. "Think about it! He's the only one that we won't have to make excuses to. Let him come here and treat Sam. It's either that or Sam possibly dying."

The crowd seemed to understand the logic behind Jake's request, though it was clear that none were happy about the prospect of having vampires on their land.

"Please Billy." The woman pleaded, still kneeling at Sam's side, her arms wrapped around his large furry torso. She seemed to not give a damn about the blood that was seeping into her clothing.

"Someone call the Cullens." Billy finally spoke up, prompting people to scramble to find a phone and someone who knew the number of the Cullens. "And someone get something to cover these two girls up." Billy added, motioning to Kat and me.

Glancing over, I saw that Kat had a faraway look in her eyes, and even after chirping in her direction, I couldn't get her attention. I butted her side with my head, but that only got me a deep growl and fangs bared at me.

Several raised voices announced that Carlisle was on his way, prompting a sigh of relief from the woman at Sam's side, and one from myself as well. Even if Sam was being a jerk, he didn't deserve to die.

A moment later a boy was jogging towards Kat and me, holding out two large blankets, an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry, but all we really have is extra pairs of shorts, so this is all I could find for you guys." He said as he placed them on the floor and jogged away.

Mentally shrugging, I shifted back, grabbing the blanket in the process and wrapped it around my body. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kat do the same, and I was glad to see that she seemed to be coming out of whatever was making her act weird.

"Bella!" For the second time that day I heard Alice's voice call out from the trees, and I turned towards the voice with a relived smile on my face. With the day I was having it was nice to hear my mate's voice.

However, her face contorted to one of horror, and she turned her attention on Kat, who had also turned at the noise.

"What did you do to her?!" Alice roared at my Alpha.

I was expecting Kat to snarl back, or simply leap and attack the charging vampire after everything she had to put up with today. Instead, she let out a terrified squeak, and she scrambled to back up. In the process she stumbled, falling flat on her backside. Once on the ground she only pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her face in between them and wrapping her arms over her head. She started rocking back and forth, chanting "no" over and over.

The reaction caused Alice to stop dead in her tracks, her look of anger turning quickly to one of confusion.

Rikki, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was at Kat's side in an instant, and was murmuring to Kat, too quiet for me to hear. Leah wasn't far behind her, though she seemed to prefer to growl at Alice due to her mate's reaction.

"What happened?" I asked Danni as she appeared by my side.

"Was Kat acting weird on the way back?" Danni asked me, ignoring my question.

"Yeah, she wouldn't talk to me, and she had that block up." I told her.

"She's having an attack." Danni told me after a moment.

"An attack?" Alice asked tentatively.

"Sometimes she gets these weird flashbacks to her time in The Pit. It's like she's stuck in her memories and can't get out. They just paralyze her. She can't fight it, just like she couldn't fight it back then. I've only seen her have two of these, ever." Danni explained.

"The Pit?" Alice asked, picking up on the strange title, but Danni only shook her head to stop the line of questioning in its tracks.

"What do we do?" Leah asked Rikki, who was gently rubbing Kat's back and still murmuring to her.

"She'll come out of it eventually. Just make sure she knows she's safe." Rikki told the panicking wolf-shifter.

Leah nodded and took over the job of rubbing soothing circles on her Imprint's back. She also began talking in a low and soothing voice, telling Kat that she was safe, and that she would protect her.

"I did that to her?" Alice asked after a moment.

"No." I turned towards the raven-haired girl who looked like she wanted to burst into tears. "It was a number of things, and I don't even understand everything that did this. It's just been a really bad day."

"I didn't mean to set her off. I just saw your face and freaked out." Alice whimpered.

"What's the matter with my face?" I asked.

"I'm assuming the werewolf hit you?" Danni asked.

"Yeah, but-"

"It broke your face." Danni informed me.

"Broke my face?" I turned to Alice to get a better answer.

"Your nose is broken and you have two black eyes." Alice explained.

"What?" My hand flew up to my nose, but as soon as it made contact I flinched from the pain, and after pulling my hand away I immediately noticed the blood coating my fingertips. "How did I not notice this before?" I groaned more so to myself than anyone else.

"Adrenaline?" Danni supplied anyway.

"Maybe…" I shrugged. Turning to Alice I decided to just change the subject since I couldn't do anything about my busted face at eh moment. "How many of your family are coming?"

"Just me and my parents. Carlisle didn't want to freak out the pack. He figured the less the better. At first he only wanted to bring Esme, but I wasn't going to stay home once I heard that there was a fight." Alice explained.

"Where are Esme and Carlisle then?" I asked, which caused Alice to let out a small chuckle.

"In the Black's house. They got here when I did." She explained.

"Oh…"

"It's alright. We were a bit distracted." Alice said with a grimace. "We should probably join them as soon as possible though. You need your nose set, and Kat needs her arm looked at."

"How-"

"I can smell the blood. And I'm not blind." Alice told me. And, after thinking about it, it was a really stupid question. After all, the blonde shifter had four wide slashes on her arm, ranging from her elbow to her wrist, evenly spaced and still bleeding.

"Right…" I muttered.

"Where-" My head shot towards Kat when I heard her shaky voice. Her head was lifted, but her arms were still half-raised to cover her face. She swallowed harshly and tried again. "Where'd everyone go?"

"The pack went with Sam and the doctor, and everyone else went home." Leah told Kat in a calm voice, obviously frightened that she'd set her off again.

"Kat, how much do you remember?" Rikki asked the blonde.

"The werewolf, Sam getting hurt, then…" Kat trailed off, her face scrunched in confusion.

"Kat, you had an attack. You curled up and wouldn't move." Rikki explained.

"Oh Goddess." Kat whimpered, burring her face again, only this time in shame not fear.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked.

"I will be." Kat told her, peeking out from behind her arms.

"Good." Leah wrapped her into a hug. "You had me worried there for a second."

"Sorry." Kat returned the embrace and buried her face in Leah's shoulder.

"Now let's get you and Bella fixed up." Leah pulled back, stood, and offered Kat her hand.

"Yeah, apparently I got my face broken." I pointed out needlessly as I walked towards my Alpha.

"That's nothing." Kat brushed off with a weak smirk. "It's not even going to scar."

"That's a relief." I smiled.

"Nah, chicks dig scars, right?" Kat tried to teased, pulling Leah a bit closer. I was glad to see she was coming out of the attack, even if the teasing was subpar.

"I'd prefer her not getting hurt at all." Alice deadpanned, wrapping her arm around my middle.

"'Cause that's an option." Rikki rolled her eyes at the statement.

**XXXXX**

It was a relatively short walk to the Black's house, though it would have been a much more comfortable one if I actually had some clothes on. The blanket I had wrapped around me kept threatening to blow apart, which would have not been a fun experience for me. Looking over I kept seeing Kat scowl at hers and pulling it tighter around her body. Well, at least I wasn't suffering alone.

Thankfully we did make it to the house without any blanket mishaps, for both Kat and myself. Upon arriving, I saw that every member of the pack, minus Sam and of course Leah, were sitting around the house, glancing at it every so often.

"Leah!" Seth hopped up and rushed to his sister once he caught sight of us.

"Hey Seth. How's Sam doing?" Leah asked.

"Last we heard, it looked good, but the doc's been in there a while." Seth responded, earning a few relieved sighs from our group. "And it looks like a few of you need to see him next."

"Minor wounds. We can wait until Sam is all taken care of." Kat brushed off.

"Well, then you won't have to wait very long." A voice called from the front door of the house. Esme was standing there, a concerned look on her face. "Come inside and Carlisle will take a look at you."

"Is Sam stable?" Kat asked as she walked towards the house.

"Yes. He's sleeping now. Carlisle didn't know exactly how fast the wolves' metabolisms were, so he gave Sam a healthy dose of morphine. He'll probably be knocked out for a little while." Esme explained as we walked into the house.

"We'll stay out here. That house probably can't hold too many shifters at once." Rikki called out, and Kat turned and nodded in acceptance.

"Are these my next two patients?" Carlisle asked as we made our way deeper into the house.

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"You've got to love the enthusiasm people have when coming to the doctor." Carlisle chuckled to himself. "Alright, whoever's first, you can take a seat here." He patted the chair next to a table holding his medical bag.

"Kat, you can go." I told her, noticing that her arm was still seeping a bit of blood.

"No, Bella. You'll be much faster. Just get your nose fixed." She all but shoved me into the chair.

"Fine." I grumbled as I sat. "How much is this going to hurt?" I asked Carlisle as his gloved hands moved against my nose and cheeks.

"Your nose is almost completely healed, so I'll have to rebreak it and set it." He told me, lifting my head slightly.

"So a lot." I sighed.

"Don't worry, it's not bone, just cartilage." He assured me before a sharp pain in my nose made me hiss. "All done. There are advantages to moving much faster than a human."

He then bandaged my nose and instructed me to ice it as much as possible over the next few days. Alice pulled me to another chair, disappeared, and reappeared a moment later with a cloth to clean up the blood on my face.

"I believe you're next Katherine." Carlisle called. I overheard him telling her that she was going to need the gashes cleaned then stitched up since they weren't going to close themselves.

"How's the face?" Alice asked me, pulling my attention back to her.

"It's throbbing, but I'll live." I told her with a small smile.

"So does everything caused by another supernatural take really long to heal?" She asked as she ran gentle fingers over my cheekbones.

The feather-light touch had me closing my eyes and shuddering slightly, but not out of pain. In fact, it was the polar opposite. Alice's touch was causing warmth to swell through my body, making me forget about the pain entirely.

"Sorry." She pulled her hand back at my reaction, thinking she had hurt me.

"No." I pouted once her touch was gone. "I mean," I cleared my throat and collected myself, "it didn't hurt. It felt nice actually."

"Oh." Alice's face broke into a warm smile. "Good."

"But to answer your question, no, not every wound. Just ones caused by claws, fangs, spikes, those kinds of things. My face is healing slowly because broken bones, and I guess cartilage, takes a little longer to heal than a cut. That, and we do heal a bit slower than the wolves." I explained.

"That makes sense I guess." She shrugged.

"As much sense as anything else going on these days." I added.

"True." She laughed and continued to dab at my face with her cloth.

"You're pretty good at this." I spoke up after a minute of her cleaning me off.

"Huh?" He movements stopped and she looked up at me.

"Taking care of people. You're pretty good at making sure I'm all clean and okay." I elaborated with a slight blush on my face.

"Of course I am." She beamed and finished cleaning the blood off of me. "What aren't I good at?"

"Controlling yourself in a mall." I suggested with a small smirk.

"That is irrelevant to this conversation." She scoffed and lightly smacked my arm.

"How so?" I shot back.

"That's not a skill or talent that I don't have." She argued.

"Self-control is a skill. You lack it. End of story." I laughed at her offended expression.

"Because you're the poster child for self-control." She shot back with an eye roll.

"Oh, I never said I was. I also lack any sort of self-preservation instinct. Just look at who I choose to hang out with."

"You-"

Her sudden seizing up next cut off whatever she wanted to say, all expression leaving her face, and her eyes glazing over. I knew that expression, she was having a vision, and if the slight shuddering was anything to go by, it was a bad one.

Knowing there was nothing I could do to break her out of her vision, I simply pulled her frame into mine, hugging her shaking body close, trying to give her any reassurance I could.

Thankfully, the vision didn't last long, but the second she came out of it she shot out of my grip, a petrified expression on her face.

"Alice, what is it?" I stood too, concerned at her expression. It seemed whatever this vision was, it was much worse than any of the others.

"Victoria." The one word sent shivers down my spine. It didn't matter that I was now a shapeshifter, very capable of defending myself, the thought of an absolutely insane vampire coming after me still had me terrified.

"What did you see?" Kat spoke up from her position at the other end of the table. Carlisle wrapped the last bandage around Kat's arm and looked up as well.

"She's coming to Forks." Alice replied.

"So? She's one vampire, and we have seven. Plus three shifters that wouldn't let anything happen to Bella. And Bella's a shifter. _And_ an entire pack of wolf shifters that will rip apart any human-drinking vampire." Kat told her, but still looked concerned at Alice's fear.

"She's bringing newborns." Alice told Carlisle more so than anyone else. And before he could speak up she spoke again. "And I think shifters."

"Newborns?"

"You _think_ shifters?"

"How do you know?"

Three questions met Alice all at once, but she just shook her head.

"At least seven newborns. And there were blank spots in the vision, plus large beasts that were slightly out of focus, just like the pride is in my visions."

"How in the world would a vampire be able to get shifters to follow her?" I asked.

"There was another person there, the same one I could never get a fix on. He wasn't a vampire or a shifter. But I did finally get a good picture of him." Alice explained.

"What did he look like?" Kat asked in a strained voice.

"Does it matter?" Alice asked, her brow peaked in confusion.

"It matters a hell of a lot, especially if he's not vamp or shifter. I need to know what he looks like." Kat's voice was low and overly controlled. Obviously something was really troubling her, but she needed to be sure about the man first.

"If someone could get me some paper and something to draw with I can show you I guess." Alice surrendered after a moment.

"I can do that." Jacob's sudden voice caused me to jump slightly. "Though I'd prefer to know what's going on first."

"Alice had a vision of a bunch of vampires and shifters coming here. Probably to attack the Cullens." I told him.

"Why?" He asked.

"Edward killed her mate, and she thinks I'm Edward's mate. And before you ask, she's not the type to stop and realize that Edward is gone." I clarified.

"If the Cullens fight then you're going to fight too, aren't you?" He asked.

"I would never abandon my mate." I growled at the thought.

"Which means the pride is fighting too, right?" Leah asked Kat.

"I'd never leave a pride-mate to fight alone." Kat said with a definite nod.

"And I'd never leave my Imprint to fight alone." Leah declared, squeezing Kat's good hand.

"Which means the pack will fight. For both Leah, and to defend the humans here." Jacob returned

"This is making my head hurt." Kat chuckled humorlessly. "But back to the paper and pencil."

"Right." Jacob shook to clear his head and disappeared, reappearing quickly with a sheet of paper and a pencil.

Alice took the objects and quickly set to work sketching the man from her vision. It took all of a minute for her to have a full portrait of a scowling man, the sketch looking as detailed as a photograph.

"Here you go." Alice handed the photo to Kat.

Kat immediately tensed up, her face giving away the pure horror she was feeling. To her credit, she managed to keep a hold of herself; the only hint to the level of fear was her eyes flashing green.

"Are you sure that this is who you saw?" Kat choked out.

"Yes, why?" Alice responded.

"This is my trainer." Kat simply said, each word heavily controlled, as if it would explain everything. And it did, but only to me.

"Are you sure?" I asked Kat.

"I'd never forget that fucker's face." Kat growled at the sketch before slamming it facedown onto the table.

"Want to explain what a trainer is to the rest of us?" Leah interjected. "Because I'm guessing it's not what we think it is."

"They called themselves trainers, but there were more like owners." Kat told her, pulling her hand away to burry her face in her palms.

"Some bastard thinks he owns you?" Leah snarled.

"For all intents and purposes, he did." Kat admitted.

"What?" Leah tried to control her voice for her question, but failed miserably.

"If he's coming here, then this is a whole lot bigger than a crazy vamp coming after Bella for revenge." Kat announced.

"Well, what _does_ it mean then?" Jacob asked.

"It means, you need to know about the trainers, and their connection to vampires. Which means it's time I told you about my past."

* * *

**Okay, so I don't know if anyone even cares about Kat, or her past, and the level of caring matters a lot in the upcoming chapter. I don't want to write something that you will hate which means we have two options for the next chapter. Either, Kat sits and talks about her past (which involves a shit ton of dialogue), or the next chapter is a flashback of Kat's life.**

**So it's up to you guys. Leave me a review telling me which you'd prefer. Once I get a good idea of which one sounds better, I'll work on it. (Now I feel like I'm bribing for reviews... Oh well!)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but it's kind of a monster of a chapter (a short novel really...), and I wanted to finish it yesterday but there was a Rizzoli & Isles marathon, so that's what I did all day. I also apologize for the lack of Bellice, but this was necessary fot the plot. I promise Bellice in the next chapter.**

**Also, the dates are for your reference, Kat may or may not know them depending. Also, fun nerdy thing, I actually looked up all the full moon dates, so they should be accurate. And I'm using the Twilight timeline, so present day is 2006.**

**But, without any other excuse, please enjoy Kat's story!**

**I actually own things in this chapter, but only Kat... The Twilight universe still belongs to the author.**

* * *

**October 17, 1956**

The sun was just disappearing behind the tall mountains that surrounded the valley in a comforting and protective ring. Even though the day was coming to a close, it seemed every inhabitant of the village was awake and crowded around one house in particular. All were waiting for the woman of the house to give birth to her child.

However, this wasn't a normal child, just as this wasn't an ordinary village. To start, no person aside from the inhabitants even knew of the village's existence, as it was hidden deep within the Rocky Mountains, far from any human civilization. The inhabitants themselves, all fifty of them, weren't even human; instead, all were some breed of shapeshifting supernatural. And in regards to the child, it was to be born to the leader of the village, or the Alpha as the people called him.

The hushed whispering reached a crescendo as the door to the house opened, revealing a large man, the Alpha, a shaggy mane of blonde hair fell disheveled around his face. Dark bags were visible under his eyes, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days, though in reality the ten hours of labor his mate endured were what sapped his strength, as he spent the entire time worried for her, never leaving her side. Many grew concerned, as death among newborns was always a possibility in such a rural community, but none wanted to ask the leader if this was the case.

With a simple raise of his hand, the Alpha managed to quiet every single person in the clearing in front of his house. Many, mainly the mothers who had lost their own children in childbirth, held their breath waiting for him to speak. Instead, a wide smile broke across his face, and all let loose their tension. The child must have lived then, they all decided.

"My friends," the Alpha spoke in a comforting rumbling tone, "my mate has just given birth to our first child, and both will survive. For that alone, I praise the Goddess with all my being." Many let loose yowls of agreement, and the Alpha let them die off before continuing. "I also praise the Goddess for blessing me with a beautiful and healthy baby girl."

Murmurs spread through the crowd, no single voice audible to the Alpha above the others until one woman shouted to be heard.

"What will you name her?"

"Her name is Katherine. Katherine, daughter of Jonathan, and future Alpha of this village, if you will allow her to lead you." The Alpha answered.

Shouts of approval rang out in the clearing, as the Alpha was known to be a kind and fair man, though never afraid to defend what needed to be protected. His citizens believed that any child born of him would grow up to possess the same sense of right and wrong, and would be a just leader.

With a final goodbye, the Alpha reentered his home, making his way to the bedroom where his daughter and mate awaited him.

"She is really beautiful Jonathan." As the Alpha entered the room the voice of his mate greeted him.

"She gets that from you Cassie." He chuckled as he sat on the corner of the bed, gazing lovingly at his mate as she held their child.

"You always knew how to make a girl feel loved." Cassie chuckled, looking up at him with tired eyes. "Would you like to hold her?"

Jonathan tentatively took the small bundle of blankets containing the slumbering child. He looked down at her, then back at his mate. He found no words could express the emotions he was feeling at the moment, so he didn't even try. Instead, he carefully maneuvered himself on the bed so that he was lying next to Cassie. She offered him a tired smile, then laid her head on his shoulder, falling asleep not long after.

"Katherine," he whispered to his child, "my daughter. I promise you, I will always do my best with you. I'll apologize in advance for any mistakes I make." He paused to chuckle silently to himself. "I'm new at the whole parenting thing, so we'll learn together, okay? But one thing is certain; I will always protect you. I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing ever happens to you my sweet child."

**XXXXX**

**May 29, 1972**

"Hurry up Ty! If we don't get back soon our parents are going to know we were gone." I called up the mountain I had just spent the entire morning climbing. The sun was just starting to break over the mountains, but it wasn't the same as a real sunrise, hence the need to climb up the mountain to see the real one.

"Sorry, not all of us are as nimble as you Katherine." The disgruntled voice of Ty came out from behind a rock as he shimmied his way down the slope.

"You'd make a terrible climbing cat, you know that right?" I laughed at the awkward way Ty was scooting along the ground.

"And you would suck on the open plains. Didn't you just loose a race to a cub the other day?" He shot back with a smirk.

"I let her win!" I huffed and crossed my arms. "Besides, who would want to run around on flat ground all day?"

"Me." He answered as he finally made it to me. "There is no sense in climbing the mountains all day when there are perfectly good plains not ten minutes from the village."

"And there is no sense in running around in circles all day when you can climb a mountain." I shot back.

"Whatever, have it your way, Mountain Lion." He teased and started walking towards the village.

"Hey, I don't want to be a mountain lion!" I called after him.

"What else climbs as much?" He teased, poking me in the ribs.

I swatted his hand away and answered quickly. "Snow leopards."

"And what good would _that_ coat do you in _this_ heat?" He questioned.

"I don't know…" I mumbled.

It was true though, a mountain lion's coat would work better in the heat then a snow leopard's would. But then the winters also mattered, right? Even if we ran hot and the short coat of a mountain lion would prove no problem in the winters.

"Have you decided what you want to be yet?" I tried to shift focus to him.

"Nah, but I still have a year and a half. You have to figure it out in what, four months now?"

"Four and a half." I answered, already knowing the exact day I basically needed to have my life figured out.

"That's some time at least." He offered.

I shrugged and continued on, just seeing the edge of our village. Luckily no one was awake yet, but that was expected. The previous night was the full moon, so every shifter over sixteen had spent the night on four legs, running around and hunting. This of course tires them all out, which meant that the day after was prime time to sneak out with Ty and watch the sun rise.

Now, as romantic as that sounds, Ty and I were just friends, best friends in fact. We had grown up together, our houses being right next to each other, and we always seemed to get along. I'm sure my father would have been pleased if we got together, Ty being such a sweetheart, but neither of us had even considered it. With our changes being within a year, mine much closer, we had bigger things to worry about.

"Well, this is where we say our goodbyes." Ty stopped and spun around, speaking in that strange overdramatic voice he sometimes used.

"You're a bit of a freak, you know that right?" I giggled.

He shrugged and pulled me into a quick hug.

"Don't get caught on your way in." He instructed me before turning and heading to his house.

"Same to you." I called back to him. He put his hand up in a sign that he heard.

With that I turned back towards my own house, not making any effort to hurry. Instead, I strolled at a leisurely pace, enjoying the absolute peace of the early morning.

That peace didn't last long, however, as a deafening noise was heard from the other side of the small village. Several shouts followed what I thought was an explosion, though I didn't recognize a single voice. That terrified me, considering I knew the voices of every person in the town, as a result of growing up with only about fifty other people.

Not knowing what else to do, I took off towards my own house to get my father. He would know what to do. He had to know what was going on after all. Not a second before I got to the door it was flung open, my father standing there with wide eyes.

"Thank the Goddess." He sighed and pulled me inside.

"What's going on Daddy?" I asked as he sprinted around our small house, closing windows and curtains.

"I don't know, but you need to go to your hiding place. You remember where it is, right?" He asked as he kneeled in front of me.

"The trap door under your bed. I remember, but what's going on? Why do I need to hide?" I pleaded him to give me answers.

"Katherine, I don't know." He answered in a pained voice. "But I think that some very bad people are attacking us. I have to help stop them, but you need to hide so that you stay safe. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes." I conceded, scared at the fear in his own voice. My dad was never scared; he was the strongest person I knew. So if these people made him worried, then I knew that they were bad.

"Jonathan," My mother burst through the door at that moment, still staring behind her, "I can't find her! Where would she-" She turned around at that moment, and as soon as she saw me just about broke down. "Oh Katherine." She rushed to pull me into a hug. "Where were you?"

"Taking a hike." I answered, suddenly feeling very guilty for putting my parents through so much anxiety.

"A hike? Why would you- No, never mind. Did your father already tell you to go hide?" I nodded dumbly, knowing that if I was getting out of trouble then this attack was _really_ bad. "Good. Go do that. We'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay." She offered me one last smile then hugged me again before disappearing out of the door with my father close behind.

Once they closed the door I locked it, knowing my parents already knew the other way in, and headed into my parents' bedroom. With practiced skill, I maneuvered myself under the bed, opened the trap door, and slid into the hiding space. I never knew why we had this, though I was getting a crash course now it seemed.

I don't know how long I was crouching in that small space, only big enough for me to sit or crouch with a few inches separating me from every wall, before I heard the noises.

Someone was obviously breaking down our door, if the loud crunching of wood was anything to go by. That was followed by footsteps, though those were relatively quiet, and far too quick. A rancid scent hit me next, far too sweet yet rotten to be anything natural. The last noise, and possibly most terrifying was the loud sniffing, too high to be an animal, but it still made me feel like a helpless prey animal trapped with its hunter.

"We've got one hiding it seems." A taunting voice spoke up from above me.

"Aww, how cute. The mongrel thinks it can hide away and we won't find it." This voice was much crueler than the first, and sounded much closer as well.

"Well, let's not keep it waiting and give it false hope then." My heart stopped with these words, then seemed to go at four times its normal speed as the sound of my parents' bed crashing into a wall met my ears. Next, the whole trap door was ripped out from above me, and the flash of light blinded me as two sets of frigid hands took ahold of me.

"Hello there." The voice belonged to a painfully beautiful creature, though the evil smirk on her face made her look absolutely horrifying as she squeezed my arm with far too much force.

"What'a ya think? She of age yet?" The other creature asked. Looking at him, I saw he was basically a male version of the woman holding me, right down to the smirk and the predatory gleam in his eyes.

"No. She would have fought if she was." The woman answered.

"What do you want?" I had it with being talked about as if I wasn't there, and I tried to speak with a firm voice, though it came out just as terrified as I was.

"How old are you beast?" The woman ignored me and questioned instead.

Stubbornly, I held my tongue; not wanting to give them what seemed like crucial information. Sadly, the two holding me seemed to have no qualms in throwing me into the wall, one of the splintered planks of the wall sinking into my back.

"We're not going to ask again. And each time you refuse to talk, the pain will only get worse." The male informed me, punctuating his words by pushing me into the wall, further sinking the plank into my back.

"Fifteen." I sobbed through the pain, hating myself for breaking so easily.

"Were both your parents shapeshifters?" The woman demanded.

"Yes." I choked out.

"And when do you turn sixteen?"

"October." I gave her the short, clipped reply.

"The date?" The woman ground out through her teeth. Obviously this was taking too long for her taste.

"17th."

"Good. She'll turn two days after that then." The woman told her partner.

"Then we'll take her and the other three." The man replied.

Nodding to each other, the man peeled me off the wall, giving my wound a once over and pulling out a long shard of wood that had made its home in my back.

"Hope you heal fast. For your sake." He chuckled darkly to himself. "Hand me the binds Tara."

"Here you go Zeke." The woman, Tara I guess, came over and handed the man a length of strangely colored, highly metallic rope.

Zeke roughly spun me around, and before I knew what was happening, my wrists were tied together and I was being marched out of the house.

"Hurry it up mongrel." He shoved me when I started stumbling due to the pain radiating from my still bleeding back.

Choking down my tears I continued the march from my house into the center of the town. Looking around, I was confused as to why no one was trying to stop the two creatures from taking me. Hell, I didn't even see a single person on the way.

A second later I found out why my village looked like a ghost town, though I wished more than anything I hadn't. Lining the dirt paths of my once peaceful village square were bodies. The dead bodies of my friends, the people I had grown up with. Though, if you asked me to identify any of the bodies, I wouldn't have been able to. Each and every person was torn apart, blood stained the dirt, soaked into the very earth that had been my home for almost sixteen years.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Zeke sighed in reverence at the horrific scene.

I could only let out a sob in response. How had this happened? How had my entire village been torn apart by these things? We were shifters Goddess damn it! What were these things, and how did they defeat all of us?

"Katherine!" My gaze was torn away from the gore to see Ty standing with Raquel and Alexandra, twin girls just a few months younger than Ty.

"Ty." My call back was a mix of a sob and a sigh of relief. I wasn't exactly pleased that they had captured him, but I was ecstatic that he wasn't dead.

"No talking." One of our captors slammed his fist into Ty's back, effectively putting an end to any conversation the two of us could have had.

"This was all we could get?" Tara asked the others that looked similar to her. I assumed that whatever they were, they were all the same breed at least.

"We killed every one that fought, which eliminates all those too old. And after a search of the houses, which eliminated all the ones too young, this was all that was left." The one who punished Ty replied.

"You." Zeke roughly spun me around by the shoulder. "You understand the concept of age and shifting right?" He demanded.

"Yes." I hissed out.

"How many of you are going to shift within two years? Anyone besides the ones we have here?"

"No." I wish I could have said that I was lying to the monsters, but they really had rounded up all of us that were 14 or older. Not many mothers had given birth around the time the four of us were born, so we really were it.

"Now, you wouldn't lie to us, would you?" Tara hissed in a sickingly sweet voice as she dug a finger into the healing wound on my back, causing a shockwave of pain to spread through me.

"No!" I screamed, and she thankfully pulled her hand away a moment later.

"Good girl." She said with a shove, sending me backpedaling into the other three shifter children.

"Now let's go. We have to get back to The Pit before the next full moon if we want to get paid." Tara announced.

And with that, the monsters rounded us up and forced us to start the long trek over the mountains, and away from our home.

**XXXXX**

**June 8, 1972**

The journey to wherever it was they were taking us took far too long. And that wasn't any one person's opinion, but instead a consensus of our whole group. Tara was obviously very upset with me on the hike out of the mountains, considering I was still healing and ended up stumbling half of the time. Raquel tried asking for a break once, and ended up with a broken arm as a punishment. That taught us to shut up real quick.

After the eight days it took us to get out of the mountains, we were ushered into strange boxes on wheels that could move themselves. We didn't get to dwell on the amazing contraptions, considering the situation we were in.

Another day was spent traveling with only one stop for us to take care of anything we needed to take care of, and to eat a small meal. It seemed our captors didn't have the same needs as us, and could keep going indefinitely without food, water, or a restroom.

At the end of the second day of traveling in the automated box we were in stopped again, but this time seemed different. Tara and Zeke ordered the four of us out of the box then forced us to walk into the middle of nowhere. We knew better than to ask, but it was obvious that we were all dying to know where we were.

The next instant, however, the ground seemed to open up, and two men stepped out of the hole. They gave our small group a once over, then glanced at one another. With a nod one of the men handed Zeke a small pouch, then turned to Tara.

"Ages?" He asked curtly.

"Blonde girl is fifteen, turns sixteen right before the October moon. The boy turns a year and two months after her. The twins, three months after him." Tara informed him. "Anything else?"

"That is all that is required of you." One of the men dismissed with a smirk. "Always a pleasure to do business with you."

"Of course." Tara returned his smirk and turned away.

That just left the two men and the four in my group.

"If you're smart, you won't cause any problems." The one on the left snapped at us. But really, what did he expect four half-starved teenagers to do to him? We hadn't even shifted yet, and that didn't even seem to be a problem considering what they did to our village.

"Come on then." The other one ordered, motioning down the set of stairs that descended into the hole.

We were lead through a collection of dark tunnels, deeper and deeper into the strange underground complex, not a word being uttered the entire way. Finally we ended up in a large chamber, three people standing waiting for us. Two smelled the same as our guards, though the one in the middle had a scent that didn't burn my nose. I suppose some could say it was a pleasant smell, but it didn't affect me one way or the other.

"This the new group then?" One of the rancid-smelling people asked.

"Yes." Came the short reply from our guard.

"Well, I get first choice, so which is the oldest?" The neutral-smelling male asked.

"This one." I was shoved forward, almost falling flat on my face in the process. By some miracle I did keep my balance, and could stand up straight as he looked me over. I refused to betray how terrified I was at the moment.

"How much longer?" He asked as he circled me like a hawk.

"Fourth moon from now."

"Not long to get her wild then." He muttered to himself.

"You want her or not Jax?" One of his companions snapped out.

"Eh, I'll take her I guess." He shrugged then grabbed my upper arm.

As he drug me away I could hear the other two arguing over which got the next pick, but the noise soon faded away as I was lead through another tunnel.

"You're a feline, aren't you?" The man, I think his name started with a J or something, asked.

"What?" I squeaked, hating how terrified I sounded.

"Hey, don't be scared. I'm not as bad as the vamps, and I get the needs of a live person." He tried to make me feel better, though the fact he was dragging me through a dark underground tunnel wasn't helping his case.

"Vamps?" I asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Vampires. You haven't heard of vampires before?" I shook my head in response. "Damn, you really were living removed from society. Oh well, it's not really important. Back to the first question, will you turn into a big cat when you shift?"

"Yes."

"Good. Last kid I had was a wolf. Too scrawny, depend too much on speed and teamwork. Cats are much better." He declared, but it seemed to be more to himself than anyone else.

"Better at what?" I almost didn't want to ask, but was still far too curious not to.

"Oh, don't worry about it, you'll find out soon enough." He dismissed. "Besides, we're here."

"Here?" I asked, only seeing a single door that lead to nowhere.

"Yep. Have fun in there." He snickered, untied my wrists, and shoved me inside before I could react.

I landed awkwardly, rolled a few times, and came to rest after hitting the wall. Straightening up quickly, I had just enough time to see the door close, and the sound of a heavy bolt being slid into place before the blackness swallowed the whole room.

**XXXXX**

**October 22, 1972**

I don't know how long they had me in the dark room. But then, I didn't know much of anything anymore. The only constant I had in my life was the walls. The walls that seemed to stop any movement in my tiny room. I hated my tiny room. The tiny dark room. I wanted out. I wanted out more than anything. I could hear the people on the outside. They walked just outside my room. Their footsteps mocked me, echoed through my head at all hours of the day or night. I didn't really know the difference anymore.

There was one thing in my room, the flap. The flap was near the ground. It opened occasionally and food came through. I considered destroying the flap a few times to try to get out. But the flap gave me food. I couldn't destroy the one thing that kept me living. I may have hated my life, but I didn't want it over yet. No, I wanted to live. Even if it meant staying in my tiny dark room with walls too close. Even if I didn't know anything anymore. I still wanted to live.

I sat there, rocking myself back and forth when something happened. A section of the wall opened up. That was wrong. The walls couldn't move. I had tried that before and had only made my hands bleed.

But there was the wall, or a part of it, opening up. Then light came in, chasing the dark away and making it hard to see.

"How are we doing today?" A voice that wasn't the one in my head asked me. That was also wrong. There were no voices other than mine in the room. I growled at it. I didn't like the wrong voice. "I see. The room did its job then."

I wanted the voice to stop. It made my head hurt. It was wrong. I growled again.

"You shift tonight, I bet you're excited, even if you forget what that's like." The voice said, then rumbled slightly. I remembered that noise. It was a laugh. I hadn't laughed in a long time. I missed it.

The rumble, the laugh, stopped and the voice picked up again.

"You need to listen to me." A hand forced my face to the owner of the voice. It was a man. I didn't know him. I didn't like him. I growled again. "When you shift you will turn into a lion. Understand?"

I just stared at him. I did understand, but something was wrong. Lion. That was what was wrong. I wasn't going to be a lion. Somehow I remembered that. I wanted to be a climber. What was it called though? I hated that I forgot.

A sharp sting bloomed on my face. The man slapped me. I guess he wanted me to answer.

"No." I rumbled out, a horrible scratchy noise. I hadn't spoken since I was in the room.

"Yes." He spat at me, grabbing my chin again. He took a deep breath then continued. "I would like you to turn into a lion. Can you do that for me?" I think he was asking nicely now. That made my head hurt even more. He hit me, now he wants to be nice?

"No." I rumbled again. His eyebrows furrowed. I think he was confused.

"Please?" He tried to speak to me again in his strangely sweet voice.

"No."

"What's the matter with her." Another voice spoke up. I looked past the man to see another one at the open wall.

"I don't know. But she's not responding." The first man hissed out. He was mad again. I still had no idea what was happening.

"Probably something to do with her change tonight. Who knows what goes on in their bodies or heads." The other voice said.

"Well, we need a lion."

"She's obviously hell-bent on not being one. She's also insane. What did you expect?"

"No." I wanted the voices stop.

"Fine." The man near me released my chin. He walked over to the open wall. "Come here." He spoke to me again. He wanted me out of the room? Okay. I wanted that too. I guess he wasn't too bad then.

I got up slowly, and slunk towards the two men standing there. They each grabbed one of my arms and started leading me down a narrow trail.

"Where?" I asked.

"Someplace bigger for you to shift." The man told me. They were being nice. But he was mad at me. I didn't understand. I didn't try. It hurt my head too much.

"In there." The one who didn't come into the room opened a door and guided me into a large room. This one didn't have a wall above me. I liked it better. I could see little lights in the area far above me. Along with a very large light.

I liked the very big light. It seemed to call to me, a noise resounding deep within my body. It cleared my mind. Nothing hurt anymore.

"We'd still appreciate if you turned into a lion." The man from my small room called.

"No. Snow leopard." I spoke in a clear, definite voice. I could remember what cat called to me more so than any other beast. The one that I wanted to bond with.

Letting loose a loud snarl, I fell to my hands and knees, letting the large light's sound guide my actions. It pulled out the dormant beast I had been carrying in me all these years. With a warmth spreading to every inch of my being, I felt like I erupted into a larger body, one that felt far more confortable.

My mind cleared, and I found I could remember all that happened to me before the strange man locked me in that tiny room. The moon helped to kick-start the healing of my mind. I remembered what those monsters did to my home, to my friends and family. I remembered why I hated them so much.

Quickly, I spun around and snarled at the two men in the door. Both shared a look of terror before closing the door as quickly as they could. I leapt at it anyway, letting my hate fuel me. My claws tore into the material, scratching and tearing, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't break it.

"She turned into a panther?" The man from my room asked.

"No Jax. She turned into a snow leopard. Weren't you paying attention?" The other man growled.

"But she's black." Jax shot back.

Ignoring them, I kept scratching at the door, slamming my weight into it, anything to get to the man who had locked me up for Goddess knows how long.

"How is she supposed to fight? Like that, even Skylar could probably outmaneuver her! She's too bulky." Jax snarled.

"Then make her fight as a human." Came the reply.

"She'll die."

"Is that a problem? You still get the bet money."

"…Fine. But sign her up for the first fight you can."

**XXXXX**

**October 23, 1972**

"Move it beast." Jax hissed and pushed me through the tiny path in the underground complex. Pushed me towards the tiny room I had been trapped in for months. Trapped until the time came when I finally shifted.

"No. Not again." I whimpered, pulling at the binds on my wrists.

"We're not taking you to the dark room again." He growled and pushed me again. "You're going to go somewhere new."

"Where?" I asked. I still wasn't sure if I trusted him. He confused me. One moment he would try to ask me to do things in that strangely kind voice, then he'd get confused when I refused, then he'd get angry again.

I overheard a conversation between him and another once. He said something about powers not working on me. Then the other said it was probably because I was a "dyke". I had no idea what that was, but he said it with such venom that I figured it was a bad thing. Then he said something about Incubi not being able to control "dykes". Though, I was still confused as to what all that meant.

"The ring."

"What?" I asked. I really needed to start using real phrases or sentences again. I could tell my one word questions and answers upset him. I was scared when he was upset.

With a frightening urgency he spun me around so that I was staring him in the eyes. "You're going to fight. And you're probably going to die." I let out a quiet whine, but he ignored me. "But you're going to give the audience a hell of a fight before you go down. Got it?"

"Yes." I whimpered.

"Good." He spat and continued to lead me down the passage.

Eventually we made it to a heavy looking wooden door. This one was very different than the walls of my small room. I guess that was one thing to be happy about. But I really didn't want to fight. Or die for that matter.

A large man, one that smelled horrible, making me think he was a vampire, gave me an evil smirk when I arrived in front of the door. Without a word, Jax untied my hands, the vampire opened the door, and I was pushed inside. Immediately, I was hit with a wave of sound, cheering from hundreds of people just past a heavy looking gate that encased a small dirt circle.

"Welcome!" A loud voice, booming above the others, suddenly sounded out. "Tonight's first fight is between a rising star in The Pit, Number 38. He will be fighting a newcomer, Number 94, a snow leopard shifter from the mountains of Colorado."

"This is the best they could find me." I looked up to see a large burly man sneering down at me. "Pathetic."

They expected me to fight a man twice my size, and by the looks of it, twice my age? They really did want me dead then.

"Fight!" With a deafening order from that loud voice, the man leapt at me, his eyes burning with an insanity that made me freeze.

He slammed into me, picking me up by the neck and smashed me into the gate, forcing the metal to dig into my back. I let out a cry of pain, but that only seemed to drive the man on.

"I'm going to have fun with you." He hissed out with a feral smile, making me shut my eyes in terror.

The next instant, a sharp pain forced my eyes open, only to watch as he drug a dirty claw down the side of my face, barely missing my eye. He then threw me onto the ground and let out a victorious roar. The crowd joined him soon after, enjoying the larger man's gloating.

However, the crowd cheering my death forced me to realize the severity of the situation. Only one of us was leaving this ring. Which meant that if I wanted to live, he needed to die. And after the treatment he just gave me, my inner cat was more than happy to be the one to kill him.

So I let her out. I let the feral beast control my actions, but was careful not to shift. That was the one rule Jax ground into my head. If my opponent was human, then I fought as a human.

With my own snarl, I forced myself off of the ground and jumped onto the giant's back. I wrapped my arms and legs around his large frame and dug my elongated nails into the area by his collarbones. Then, for good measure, I sunk my fangs into the area where his neck joined his shoulder.

His screams of pain brought joy to my cat, the notion of eye for an eye seemed natural to her. In fact, his cries acted as a numbing agent as he clawed my back trying to pry me off.

Knowing that he was drawing a lot of my own blood, I released my bite on his shoulder, moving my teeth to the pulse point that was pounding at a dangerous rate. With ferocity I didn't know I had, I dug my fangs into the area on his neck, tearing and ripping out chunks at a savage rate.

It didn't take long after that for his struggles to stop, and with one final lurch, the large man's body fell to the dirt ground, completely motionless. Only then did I allow my claws and fangs to pull out of his skin, and got up off of his back.

A hush fell over the crowd as their favorite fell under the claws of a scrawny newcomer. Even the announcer found he had nothing to say it seemed, as the loudest voice never reappeared.

That is, until the cheering started up. Only a few at first, but more and more joined in with time. I found the cheering made me sick. Or it could have been the ridiculous amount of blood I must have swallowed when I was tearing out my opponent's neck.

"It seems like the newcomer is a bit more feral than we gave her credit for." The loudest voice boomed out. "Number 94 wins!"

The creaking of the heavy door made me look behind me to see Jax, along with three vampires motioning for me to leave the ring. And I was more than happy to leave the dead body behind, so I quickly made my way to the door.

"I may have underestimated you." Jax commented with a large smile on his face. "You're not a half bad fighter."

"I'm going to have to do that again, aren't I?" I asked him. My full sentence seemed to catch him off guard, but he quickly recovered.

"Every week Kitten. You fight every week until you die. That's your life now, so I'd get used to it." He told me. "Now let's get you cleaned up. I have no doubt that that other beast's claws were filthy, and I don't need you losing an eye. And after you get cleaned, we need to take care of all that hair, then get you a uniform."

I found I really didn't have much to say, so I just let the men surround me and lead me down a new passageway. This one seemed less used than the others, but I didn't have much time to dwell as Jax grabbed my arm, not caring to avoid a particularly nasty wound, and pulled me into a room. I winced in pain, which caused blood to flow into my eye, and glanced around the room with the one eye that didn't have blood in it.

"Skylar!" Jax called the attention of the only person in the room.

She spun around, and I was confused to see that she wasn't bound or guarded. The other girl in the room was a shifter, if her scent was anything to go by, and a very pretty one at that. She had no visible scarring, her hair hung just below her shoulders, and her sharp features betrayed no signs of insanity. Instead she looked at the two of us with an obvious intelligence and a hint of resentment as she eyed Jax in particular.

"What do you want Jax?" She sounded very annoyed as she spoke to him. How did she get away with that? And how wasn't she terrified of being punished?

"I have a fighter that needs medical attention." He held up my arm and spoke as if it was obvious. The jerking of my arm caused me to grind my teeth together in pain.

"Well, stop jerking her around and bring her here." Skylar told him, motioning to a tabletop near her.

Jax started leading me, much gentler thankfully, and Skylar moved out from behind the counter she was by. That's when I realized why she didn't look like a fighter, and why she could probably get away with talking back to my owner.

Skylar limped heavily, relying on a cane to help her move her left leg, which looked like it barely worked anymore. It took her twice as long to reach the table as it would have taken Jax or myself. There was no doubt that she would never be able to run away, not in human form at least.

"My face is up here you know." Skylar addressed me, making my head shoot up and a blush to cover my cheeks. I hadn't meant to stare at her leg, but I had never seen an injury that bad before. And if she was a shifter, that meant a shifter did that to her.

"Skylar was like you once." Jax told me, though spoke plenty loud for Skylar to hear as she looked over my back and shoulders. "But a nasty fight with a lycan crippled her. Now she's our medic. She makes sure the trainers still have fighters after a match. She's lucky she knows medicine or we would have had her put down ages ago."

"You know, I'd work much better without a shadow, Jax." The obviously angry shifter growled at him.

"Fine." He threw his hands up in surrender. "I'll be just outside."

Only when the door closed behind the "trainer" did Skylar seem to relax slightly. She continued to look over my wounds, murmuring to herself as she went.

"Why do you help them?" I asked after a moment.

She took her time to answer, moving in front of me and tilting my head to look at the cut on my face. "I don't help them. I help the people like you."

"What?"

"Someone needs to make sure the fighters don't die because of a nasty gash or because of infection. The 'trainers' don't care. They'd just find a new fighter if you died." She elaborated before grabbing a cloth and dabbing at the blood.

"Well, for my sake, I'm glad you're here." I gave her a weak smile as she continued to clean my wounds.

"In a moment, you'll be cursing me." She laughed as she grabbed a dark bottle and dabbed the liquid inside on a new cloth. "Try not to move too much, okay?"

I was about to ask what she meant when she touched the cloth to my skin, which caused a burning sensation to run through my face.

"Told you." She smirked and ran the burning liquid over all my wounds. Then she bandaged the worst of them and looked me over one last time. "Now, try not to end up in here too much, okay?"

"Okay." I agreed, though I don't know how genuine it was. After all, she was the only one that seemed even a little kind in this whole place, and I knew I was going to miss that the longer I was locked up in here.

**XXXXX**

**March 24, 1976**

"Ready Kitten?" Jax asked from next to me as I rubbed my hands together.

"Let's just get this over with." I grumbled back, staring harshly at the heavy wooden door.

"There's the enthusiasm I love about you." He mocked, I simply huffed. "Go get'em."

The door opened and I walked inside, just like I had been doing every week for almost four years now. As I stepped inside the crowd roared in anticipation for the fight. It didn't even faze me anymore. No, I just wanted to get in, kill my opponent, and go back to my cage.

I only half listened as the announcer introduced the fight, instead I stared at my opponent. He was a tall boy, no older than myself, with shaggy dark hair that was even longer than my own cropped hair. For some reason the sight of the boy was tugging at something in my memories. It was like I had seen him before, but that couldn't be. Everyone I see, I kill, simple as that.

"Katherine?" The hesitant voice came from my opponent. I didn't respond though. I still couldn't place why this boy was so familiar. "Katherine, it's me, Ty."

Ty? The name pulled at my deeply buried memories. Memories of my life before this place. Memories of a life with family and friends, and most of all, no fighting.

"Fight!" The announcer called out, cutting off any thoughts of my past.

Ty shot me a pleading look, obviously not wanting to fight me, but I ignored him. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what happened to those who refused to fight. They died, simple as that.

Rushing him, I slammed my shoulder into his chest, sending him sprawling into the gate behind him. While he was recovering from having the wind knocked out of him I shot my fist out at him, connecting with his jaw. He stumbled slightly, then looked up with a shocked expression.

"Katherine, stop it!" Ty pleaded as he dodged another fist aimed at his face. "We don't have to do this!"

I tuned his voice out as I continued to chase him, claws and fangs extended. I couldn't dwell on my past, it was over, which meant that all ties to this boy were severed. He needed to get that through his head as well.

I continued to lunge at him, but he just kept dodging. Damn, the boy was fast… Finally, I managed to sink my claws into his side; however, I had extended fully to grab him, and he was moving backwards, which caused me to fall to the ground.

I guess he finally got the reality of the situation into his head, because he jumped onto my back, pinning me by straddling my lower back, and pushing down on my shoulders with his hands. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the flash of claws, no doubt pulled out in his frustration with me.

"Katherine, we can stop this now. Just stop fighting, okay?" He pleaded in a low tone.

Goddess, this kid just didn't learn! But I could use that to my advantage. So I went limp, trying to make him think I was giving up, just like he wanted. I felt him let out a breath and relax slightly, but that was all I needed.

Pushing up as hard as I could with both my arms and legs, I threw Ty off of me and onto the ground behind him. In the process of flying off of me though, his claws tore into my shoulders, causing blood to spurt onto the ground under me. Disregarding my now stinging shoulders, I quickly pinned Ty to the ground, wasting no time in slashing my claws across his face. His own hands came up to cover his face, which he turned to the side, but he foolishly left his neck exposed. Taking advantage of this, I quickly drug my claws across his neck.

Just to be certain, I continued to tear at his neck and face with my claws, but it wasn't necessary after a few moments. His body went limp, and his chest stopped heaving in terrified breaths.

Like always, I tried to ignore the cheering of the crowd, instead choosing to walk to the door that was open at my end of the ring. I allowed myself to be lead to the medical wing by Jax and a vampire, not really registering much of anything until I was sitting on the table with Jax leaving the room, telling me to get to my cage as soon as I was done in here.

"Katherine!" I looked up quickly to see Skylar looking at me, concern evident on her face.

"What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for a good three minutes now. Are you okay? Did you hit your head in the fight?" She asked her gentle touch searching my scalp.

"No." I stopped her search and held her hands in my own to anchor myself. "I had to fight someone I knew."

"How is that possible?" She asked.

"We were brought in together. We were neighbors actually." I said with a humorless chuckle.

"I'm so sorry." She pulled her hands back only to wrap me in a hug. "You shouldn't have to go through that."

"Not like I have a choice." I muttered into her hair.

"Right." She murmured in a broken voice. "Let's get you cleaned up." She broke our hug and placed a quick kiss on my lips before turning to get her supplies.

Skylar and I had become very close in the past few years, the displays of affection behind closed doors becoming quite common. I guess I was her most frequent patient, and she joked that it was because I was so desperate to see her. I didn't have the heart to tell her that that was the truth. She was the only thing keeping me sane in this horrible place, so of course I wanted to see her as often as possible.

However, we were terrified of what would happen if someone found out. The trainers would no doubt make sure that we never saw each other again, after all, they hated when two fighters became too close. It would no doubt be just as bad even though Skylar didn't actually fight. One of us would probably end up dead.

While I continued to dwell on Ty and my strange relationship with my doctor, Skylar cleaned my shoulders and bandaged me up. She pulled me into another hug, trying to give me some comfort before I had to go back to my ten-by-ten cage and wait to be called out to fight once more.

**XXXXX**

**August 4, 1979**

"You fight in one hour Number 94." The voice of one of our vampire guards carried into my cell. I held up my hand in confirmation, not getting up off the floor.

"Hope you've had fun here these last seven years." The voice of my neighbor hissed through the shared bars of our cages.

"What?" I groaned as I rolled my head to the side to see the sneering fighter whose face was pressed up against the bars.

"I overheard that this is going to be your last fight."

"They're all my last fight. Everyone thinks they're going to kill me. Hell, it's everyone's dream." I brushed off and let my head thump against the bars at my back.

"This time I heard that they got something that can kill you in an instant. No problem. They _want_ you dead; say you're bad for the betting system. Not too much fun when you win every week." She sounded like someone just told her she was getting out. That's how happy she was. Damn, they really hated me here.

I chose to just ignore the ecstatic girl to my left; instead, I just closed my eyes and did my best to relax before my fight. It seemed like Jax was at the door within minutes of me closing my eyes, calling me forward.

"Have a nice time in Hell, bitch." My neighbor called with an elated laugh.

The walk to the ring seemed different for some reason, probably because Jax hadn't said a word the entire way. Hell, he always joked with me, trying to prod an answer from me, and I would always growl back at him. He knew I hated him, and he found that hilarious. We made it to the door in record time due to his faster than normal pace. The door was opened without a word, and I started to go through it when his voice made it to my ears.

"It was nice having you Kitten. Hope it's not too bad." He whispered to himself. Spinning around, I had just enough time to see Jax's hand raised in farewell before the door slammed shut with a final thud.

"Who's ready for the fight of the decade?" The announcer's voice rang out among the crowd, eliciting a chorus of cheers.

I glanced around the ring, trying to figure out what was so special about this fight, but there was no other fighter in the ring.

"For those of you who are regulars, you know Number 94, the fierce fighter who has managed to defeat all those who have opposed her for seven years. Now, she will face her greatest challenge yet! Bring in the werewolf!" At the announcer's command the other door opened, revealing a huge beast.

He called it a werewolf, though I didn't see much of the "wolf" part. It just looked like an abomination, all teeth and claws, with two soulless black eyes staring right at me. The hate seemed to radiate off of its massive frame, which was lurching forward. I barely had time to jump out of its path before it slammed into the wall behind me. I then realized that this _was_ to be my last fight. There was no way I was expected to kill this massive beast. They wanted me dead, and they wanted to profit from my death.

The beast was only dazed for a moment before it was coming for me again, its crooked fangs bared and practically begging to sink into me. I tried to dodge its attacks and think of how to attack it at the same time, but I couldn't figure it out. The thing was immense, how could I cause significant damage?

Eventually, I just couldn't evade the giant paws any longer; one slammed into me, sending me flying forward, and once I stopped moving the other one sunk into my shoulder. As I tried to pull away, the claws drug across my back, finally tearing out at my hip.

I stumbled away, grabbing onto the gate to steady myself, but I could feel the ground shake as the werewolf charged me. Not knowing what else to do, I just jumped straight up, knowing I couldn't dodge to the sides fast enough.

The werewolf slammed its face into the wall, and I ended up falling right onto its back. It immediately tried to rear and detach me, but I sunk my claws into its hide and held on for dear life. Due to all the rearing and bucking, my claws tore into the flesh underneath me, releasing a foul-smelling blood that had me gagging.

I guess the beast wasn't too smart, as it didn't even try to flip over to crush me. Figuring my position on its back was my best bet, I tried to scoot forward a bit to get better position. By some miracle, I managed to get close to its neck, so I dug my left hand deeper into its fur and flesh to gain a better handle. Then, using my right hand, I began to tear into its neck.

Roaring and flailing all around, the werewolf tried to get me to stop, but I held strong. I felt my strength failing as my blood gushed from my own back wound, but I continued to slash the monster's neck. I had to kill it. I didn't want to die. I couldn't die. It had to die.

I had no idea how long I spent clinging onto the werewolf's back, doing my best to rip out its throat, but eventually I felt the body under me collapse to the ground. Eventually, I guess I caused enough damage, and all movement ceased under me.

I couldn't believe it. I actually killed the monster. Praise the Goddess. I wasn't dead.

Not wanting to spend another moment with a dead werewolf, which was now contorting and changing back into a mauled human, I spun around and stumbled towards the door. It slowly opened to reveal a shocked looking Jax, his mouth wide open in amazement.

"Next time you want to kill me, try harder." I growled at him, continuing to stumble down the hall in the direction of the medical wing.

Jax didn't even bother following me as I slowly staggered down the hall. Somehow, I made it into the infirmary right before unconsciousness took me over.

**XXXXX**

**August 5, 1979**

I don't know how long I actually passed out for, but a very worried looking Skylar sitting next to me was the first sight I had when I finally came to.

"Oh thank God!" She cried when she saw my eyes open.

"Hey." I gave her a weak smile.

"What happened to you? You stumbled in here yesterday and just collapsed on the floor." She asked as she stroked my hair.

"They made me fight a werewolf." I whimpered and closed my eyes, not really wanting to remember the ordeal.

"A… a werewolf?" She stuttered. I opened my eyes to see her face contort with horror.

"They want me dead Skylar. Said I win too much. I guess I'm bad for profits." I explained.

"No." She cried and grabbed one of my hands. "They can't just do that to you!"

"It's not like I can stop them." I hissed, the tears I was trying to hold in finally falling.

"We have to." Her voice was firm with determination, though I couldn't fathom a reason why.

"How?" I snapped at her, my frustration and fear causing my voice to rise.

"You have to get out of here."

"How?" I repeated, though much calmer this time.

"Considering I have nothing to do but sit in here and think, I have an idea."

"Fine, but if you get me out of here, I'm taking you with me."

**XXXXX**

**August 9, 1979**

"We're here to take the mongrel to the shifting area." I heard a guard tell Skylar, but continued to lie on my stomach pretending to be asleep. "You as well."

"She can't go. Her wounds are still too severe to shift. She has to stay here tonight." Skylar responded, sounding annoyed. "I already told her trainer this."

"She has to shift, how do you propose she stays here?" The guard snapped at her.

"I gave her wolfsbane and nightshade. That stops shifting so that she can heal. I also was going to give it to myself so that I could watch over her."

"One of us can do that." The guard told her.

"So you two know what to do if she goes into shock? Or if she has a seizure? What about changing her bandages every two hours?" Skylar sounded rather smug with herself. It took all I had not to laugh at her tone.

"…Fine." One muttered after a moment.

"Good. Now if you'd excuse me, I have to give myself a shot so I can watch her." Skylar dismissed them.

I heard the two slowly walk away, and continued my false-slumber until Skylar placed her hand on the small of my back.

"We're all good." She told me.

"Nice acting." I chuckled and moved to sit up.

"Why thank you." She beamed.

"So, you ready?" I asked, hopping off of the table, flinching at the pulling in my back. The whole "not healed" thing wasn't exactly a lie, but this was our only chance to get out.

"You'd have a better chance if you went alone." Skylar tried to tell me again with a heavy sigh.

"I will not leave you." I told her firmly, standing right in front of her and grabbing her shoulders. "Running away is pointless if I'm running from you. I love you."

"No, you don't." She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head.

"Skylar." I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. "I. Love. You." I told her, emphasizing each word. "Now let's get out of here."

"I don't know why, but okay." She agreed, wiping her tears. "Let's do this."

Smiling, I stepped back, getting ready to shift. Skylar placed down her cane and got herself ready as well. Letting the moon pull out my inner cat, I felt my human skin give way to my cat's pelt. I let my front paws hit the ground, allowing myself a brief joy at the feeling of freedom.

A moment after my paws slammed against the ground a vampire guard came into the room, but before he could call for help I leapt at him, tearing him apart with ease. Once that was taken care of I turned to see Skylar, now a huge white tiger, limping towards me. She nodded at me, and we took off, letting our noses lead us.

Skylar obviously had a better sense of smell than me, so I let her lead, but every time a vampire came across our path I silenced them quickly. The smell of grass and growing things became stronger, though the smell of vamps also became stronger. It must have been the group of vampires looking over all the shifted fighters. So we found an alternative route, skirting around the vamps and eventually finding the staircase leading to our freedom.

I quickly charged up the stairs, forcing the doors apart and allowing us to run the night. We didn't stop running all through the night, though I had to alter my pace to make sure I never lost sight of Skylar. I may have been slow, but she was working with only three legs on the ground.

We ran through the night, just to make sure that the vampires weren't going to get to us, though we eventually had to stop and they didn't. So when exhaustion finally overtook us on the next night, we found a cave in some mountains, and passed out among the rocks.

**XXXXX**

**September 13, 1984**

By some miracle, Skylar and I had evaded the vampires for five years now. We had five whole years of peace to just enjoy each other as we traveled the states, taking in the sights.

As we traveled Skylar told me of what she knew about The Pit, in the hopes that knowledge was power and all that. She told me about the government of vampires, the Volturi or something, and how they allowed the underground fight ring to keep their subjects entertained, and to cut down on the shifter population. She told me how they hired vampires to hunt shifters and deliver them to The Pit in return for amnesty from the law. The thought made me sick.

Overall though, it was five years of happiness, of pure bliss with the woman I was madly in love with. So of course, something just had to go wrong, right?

We were just outside of a town in Tennessee, hiding out in an abandoned barn when we heard a strange noise. We both tensed up and ducked behind a large pile of hay. I peeked over the edge to keep a watch as Skylar reached for her cane in case we needed to get away. Sadly, the noise just got louder, and soon a man was poking his head in the barn.

I guess he could have been described as attractive, though he wasn't doing much for me. He had cropped auburn hair and bright green eyes that were rapidly scanning the barn. He was also very tall, yet slightly lanky. But the most prominent feature was his scent. It was similar to a shifter's, yet slightly more feral.

"I know you're in here. I can smell ya." He called out in a southern twang, still looking around for us. I glanced down at Skylar, and she just shrugged. He was a shifter, or similar to one, so he couldn't be all bad, right? And he knew we were here, so he wasn't going away.

"What do you want?" I asked as I straightened up.

"Oh, geeze. Didn't expect ya to actually pop right up." He laughed. "I jus' wanted to see if y'all needed anything."

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at him. I still wasn't used to strangers helping others just out of the goodness of their hearts.

"Well, y'all are like me. So I figured, why not help a fellow supernatural, right?" He offered me a smile that actually made me a little more relaxed. The guy didn't seem that bad, and he just admitted to being more than human.

"Alright. Me and my friend were just passing though and needed a place to stay for the night." I answered honestly.

"Feel free to use this here barn then. It hasn't been used in a while, so y'all should be safe. Though, I would love to see this friend. I promise I don't bite." He said with that easy smile of his.

"Sky?" I looked down and offered her a hand.

"Eh, why not?" She shrugged and allowed me to pull her up.

"Hey there pretty lady." He called out, causing her to just roll her eyes at him. However, when she turned her head to tell him off I saw her whole body just tense up.

"Skylar?" I asked, placing a hand on her cheek.

"He's the one." She whispered to herself with a dumbfounded look on her face. Looking up, I saw the boy had the same look on his own face.

"Skylar, what's going on?" I asked, but this time with much more urgency.

"He's my Imprint." She turned back to me, tears forming in her eyes.

Her Imprint? No, it couldn't be. She couldn't Imprint on someone. That meant that she was going to leave me. She was going to leave and I was going to be alone.

"You're my mate-bond?" He asked her, sounded awed. I couldn't have that.

My mind just filled with rage as I looked at him. All my old instincts came rushing back. Someone was a problem? Just kill them. It's how I lived. It's how I survived.

With a feral snarl I rushed the newcomer, knocking him over with ease and pinning him to the ground.

"Katherine!" I barely registered Skylar's voice as my claws tore into my opponent's face. I didn't register much of anything until a set of hands wrapped around my arm, tugging me away from the fight.

Snarling, I raised my hand and almost struck the owner of the hands when I realized what was going on. Skylar pulled me off this man. Skylar pulled me off her Imprint. Who I had just mauled in my rage. And now she was flinching away from me in fear of receiving her own set of gashes.

Tears gathering in my eyes, I looked down at the poor kid I had just torn up, who was now holding onto the right side of his face and hissing in pain. Then I looked back up to Skylar, who was now openly crying as she stared at him.

"I'm sorry." I sobbed before turning away and bolted from the scene. Once I was on open land I shifted and ran as fast as I could, not once looking back

**XXXXX**

**February 9, 1990**

I had been running for Goddess knows how long, never shifting back to my human form. I couldn't. After all, all I did as a human was cause pain. I had killed for seven years as a human, and then I mauled the man who was Imprinted to the woman I claimed to love. So I just stayed a snow leopard. Everything was easier as an animal. Things were simpler. Everything made more sense.

Slowing my run, I looked up at the high mountain I had arrived at. I didn't know where I was, boundaries not really meaning much to an animal, but I did know these weren't the peaks from my childhood.

Not really caring anyway, I began the trek up the mountain, enjoying the climb much more than the running. This is what my body was made for after all. It's what I knew, and its what I loved.

Eventually, I made it to a small clearing in the mountains that overlooked an even smaller village. But strangely, the clearing smelled heavily of shifter. Looking around, I spotted a small cave, which practically reeked with the scent, which meant that there was a shifted person in there. The scent was too strong for someone in human form.

I crept up slowly to the mouth of the cave, ears flat against my head and body low to the ground, not wanting to provoke the inhabitant into a fight. What I saw in the cave surprised me though.

Lying on the ground was a frail-looking girl, hacking her lungs up, and a large leopard nuzzling into her back. The leopard must have smelled me, or heard me, or maybe even sensed me for all I knew, because it looked up suddenly and stood over the girl. It started growling in warning, and I sunk further into the ground, trying to be as unthreatening as possible.

It didn't work though, as the leopard charged to the front of the cave, causing me to back up quickly to avoid being trampled. The leopard seemed satisfied enough with that, as it bean slinking backwards, keeping an eye on me, but trying to get closer to the girl as well.

Not knowing what else to do, I shifted back for the first time in years to try to get answers. This girl obviously needed help, and it was obvious to me that the leopard was trying to be her caretaker.

"Please, I don't want to hurt you." I held my hands up and tried to take a step forward. The leopard wasn't having it though, and it roared at me, warning me of the consequences of getting closer. "That girl needs help. Medical attention. Do you understand?" It only snarled again, though the girl lying down seemed to try to speak after a coughing fit.

"I understand, but no one can help me." She managed through a fit of coughing.

"Why not?" I questioned her instead of the crazy leopard.

"I'm dying and there's no cure. Simple as that. She just tries to keep me comfortable before I go." The girl told me, which caused the leopard to whine loudly. "I'm Danielle by the way."

"Katherine." I responded. "Can your leopard friend change back into a human?"

"I… don't know. She's never-" another wave of coughing cut the girl off, though this time I smelt the blood that no doubt coated her hands.

"If she can then you can be saved." The leopard perked up at this, stepping forward, though this time much less threatening. "If you are the same as me, it means that you can change her into one of us. It will heal all of her wounds, and she'll live. I'm assuming that she's your Imprint, so you really don't want her dead."

The leopard-girl shook her head, then looked back at the tiny girl who was now spitting blood onto the floor.

"Do you want to save her?" I asked and received a quick nod from the shifter. "And Danielle, are you okay with being changed into something like us if it means living?"

"Yes. I don't want to die." She said with tears in her eyes. "I just don't want to die. If you can save me, please. Please." She pleaded, looking up at the leopard who had served as her guardian for who knows how long.

"Then you, leopard-girl," she looked at me quickly, her eyes full of hope, the first human-like emotion I had seen from her, "you need to bite her. She'll change as soon as the virus takes hold."

The leopard looked at me with her head cocked to the side, but another round of coughing, this one much deeper and wetter, forced her to look back down. With an obvious deep breath, the leopard bent down and nuzzled her Imprint one more time.

"It's okay. Just save me." Danielle assured the shifter, running a hand along the soft fur of the cat's face.

So that's what the leopard did. With great care, the leopard's huge jaws wrapped around the small girl's shoulder and sunk in. Danielle cried out in pain, but it was over quickly, and she was granted a peaceful sleep as the change began.

**XXXXX**

**February 11, 1990**

"You know, it's been two days, you can change into human form. Or do you just always stay like that?" I grumbled at the leopard who had only left her Imprint's side when absolutely necessary. She simply snorted in my direction before nuzzling her mate again.

I tried not to dwell on the pain that the image gave me. I tried not to think about my own failed relationship. And most of all, I tried not to think about the last time I had seen Skylar and her poor Imprint, who I had attacked simply because he found his mate. Yeah, she happened to be someone I loved, but that wasn't his fault, right?

A noise from Danielle broke me out of my thoughts, and prompted the leopard to stop nuzzling her. It didn't take long after the first noise for Danielle to open her eyes and sit up as though she had been shocked.

"Holy…" She muttered as she looked around, between the cave and the leopard and me, who was still sitting stark naked at the mouth of the cave. "You actually did it!" She squealed and wrapped her arms around the leopard who looked shocked.

I guess the leopard made some decision, because the next moment her body was shrinking and shifting back into a human form. Soon, a rather lanky girl with ridiculously long and wild hair was hugging the tiny girl, tears streaming down both of their faces.

Feeling rather awkward in this situation, I turned to leave, but a new voice called for me to stop. I turned around to see the now-human leopard-girl staring at me.

"Thank you. Without you my Imprint would be dead. I don't know how I could ever thank you." She spoke with a wide smile, though her voice was horribly scratchy from lack of use.

"There's no need to thank me. I'm just glad you two can be together." I assured her.

"What about you?" Danielle asked. "Are you traveling all alone?"

"It's safer if I'm alone." I told her with a sad smile.

"That's a stupid answer." She twisted her face in disapproval. "Would you like some company?" She pushed.

"No, really-"

"It'd give me a chance to thank you." The shifter added.

"Don't you have families that would miss you?" My question sparked two very different reactions.

Danielle looked as if she was going to break down in tears, though of sorrow this time, and the other girl looked absolutely livid.

"I have no family anymore." Girl-whose-name-I-had-yet-to-figure-out growled.

"And mine kicked me out when I became too much of a burden." Danielle murmured, causing her companion to tighten her hold on the girl.

"And your family?" Unnamed girl asked.

"Dead." I answered curtly.

"Then we're all orphans. Perfect." Danielle perked up. Weird thing to perk up about though… "We can be our own family."

"I have no idea where I'm going." I sighed, getting a feeling that I was going to lose this battle.

"Good, makes it more fun!" Danielle grinned.

"As long as we avoid Arizona." The other girl shrugged.

"Fine. I guess you two can tag along." I grumbled.

"Yes!" The tiny girl cheered and pulled her taller companion up, pointedly avoiding staring at her naked body.

"I'm Rikki by the way." The tall girl told me. "And you're Katherine, right?"

"Kat. Just call me Kat."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry it's short, but I suck at filler. I wanted to add some fluff, but it I realize it's not great fluff. Anyway, I wanted to post this, because if I tried to lengthen it, it would have been another week.**

**Also, we've officially passed 100 pages in word, so yay!**

**And as always, I don't own this universe, I just like playing in it.**

* * *

Once it was decided that Kat needed to tell us about her past we had to decide where the lengthy conversation was going to take place. Obviously stuffing everyone in Billy's small home wasn't going to work. That, and Kat had grudgingly admitted that the Cullens needed to hear the story. Leah wasn't leaving Kat anytime soon, so it was decided that the story would be told at the Cullen mansion, with Leah present to relay the necessary information back to the pack, who were staying to guard their healing Alpha.

Which is exactly why there were now seven vampires staring shocked at Kat, who was still trembling slightly with Leah holding her as tightly as she could in a protective and comforting manner. Rikki and Danni were giving the Alpha sympathetic looks, and I was trying not to lose my lunch at the story. It may have been the second time I had heard it, but that didn't change how horrible it was.

Carlisle was the first to break the uneasy silence, though it took him a few seconds to decide on his words.

"You're saying that the Volturi approve of supernatural dogfights, for lack of a better term?" His tone was gentle; however, this was the first time I had seen anger so close to the surface of the normally calm man.

"Not just approve. They run them." Kat looked up at the vampire sitting across from her. "They hire out the best trackers in the world to The Pit. That way, the trainers get a steady supply of fighters, and the Volturi get a cut of the profits. And they get to eliminate shifters. Money and a lack of opposition from other supernaturals, it's a win-win for them."

"That's horrible." Esme growled, looking as if she was ready to rip out all of the Volturi's throats.

Looking around the room, I saw that all the Cullens looked horrified and rather pissed off at the realization. Even Esme, who I could only think of as sweet and motherly, looked like the vampire I sometimes could forget she was. It seemed that the Cullens had taken the pride into their family seamlessly, and without any of us really realizing it. They were just as ready to fight for us as they were for one of their own.

"Wait." Emmett spoke up next, a look of deep concentration on his face. "If your old trainer is coming back for you, I'm guessing that his boss told him to."

"I'm assuming." Kat agreed. "Which means that the Volturi more than likely hinted to them that it was time to collect me." Leah growled slightly at the comment, somehow shifting closer to Kat.

"Which means they want this coven gone. Why else would they come after a fighter who's been gone for, what, 27 years now?" Rikki finished for her.

"We don't know that." Carlisle argued.

"They've wanted us gone for how long now? They think we're a threat, father, and this provided them an easy opportunity to eliminate us." Jasper reasoned.

"But if it fails we know it was them who sent the attack." Carlisle shot back. "And if word got out that the Volturi now attacks covens that have done no wrong…"

"I shouldn't have known so much about the Volturi." Kat spoke up; cutting off whatever Jasper was going to say next. "I only knew because of Skylar, and she only knew because she overheard a conversation she wasn't supposed to. In the minds of our trainers, all the shifters were completely clueless to any higher involvement. So in the mind of the Volturi, you shouldn't know a thing about their involvement either."

"Still think that they don't have a hand in this attack?" Jasper asked his father, who had nothing to say.

"We're going to have to prepare to fight." Kat told the Cullens, her eyes sweeping between each member of the family. "If they are coming, then we have to be ready to meet them head-on. They will find us wherever we go, and we can't leave the humans of this town defenseless."

"I agree. I have some experience fighting newborns, and added to your experience fighting shifters," Kat flinched at his words, and to his credit, Jasper did look remorseful, "we can get everyone ready to fight."

"Right. Alice," Kat looked over to the smallest vampire, who was currently holding onto me as if I was going to disappear, "how many vampires and shifters were there in your vision?"

"Victoria is up to seven newborns now. But I can't tell how many shifters."

"Why?" I asked, looking down at her.

"They're still fuzzy, or completely blacked out. It's hard to count when I don't know how many are in the black spots. If I had to guess, maybe ten at the least, maybe fifteen at the most." She told Kat with an apologetic look.

"Let's hope it's ten." Kat said and let her head fall back against the couch.

"We need to get a hold of Edward, let him know what's going on." Marina declared.

"I'll call him as soon as we're done here." Carlisle nodded at his newest daughter.

"We should start training as soon as we can. How long do we have to prepare, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Two weeks and three days, but that could change. Victoria is trying to figure out how to best work with the shifters and not have her army kill them in the middle of the fight." Alice answered.

"Let's hope the shifters aren't too smart then." Kat grumbled.

"What?" Leah asked her, voicing everyone's confusion.

"If they're smart, then they fight exactly as the trainer tells them. If they aren't smart, if they listen to their heart and not their head, then they'll turn on the vampires. But we can't count on that. Knowing The Pit, they only let the experienced shifters out, and they know not to go against orders." Kat explained.

"You did." Emmett pointed out.

"I had two very good reasons. One, they were trying to kill me. And two, I had someone to keep living for." Kat told him. "Anyway, I suggest we start training tomorrow. Bella, Jacob, and I are healing from superficial wounds and are tired from fighting the werewolf. That, and Sam is still healing, so the pack won't want to leave him this early on."

"I agree." Jasper nodded. "So we'll meet up tomorrow night and start training and planning. Hopefully Edward will also be back by then."

"Right. Now that that's all figured out," she took a deep breath, "all I want right now is a comfortable bed, so I'm going to head home." Kat announced, prompting Leah to loosen her hold so the two could stand up.

"That's our cue." Rikki huffed. "'Bout time, too."

"You're kind of a bitch sometimes, you know that?" Danni laughed, pulling the taller girl out of the room.

"Bella?" Alice spoke softly, trying to get my attention, an obvious question in her eyes.

"Nope, I'm staying right here. If there's a fight coming then I'd prefer to spend as much time as possible with you." I told her, internally flinching at the though of leaving my mate. Especially in a time like this.

"Good. I was afraid I was going to have to blackmail you to stay. That or tie you up." She shrugged.

"Kinky!" Emmett boomed from the other couch.

"Oh, shut it." I groaned at him.

"Hey, it was your girlfriend who brought it up." He shrugged.

"Anyway," Kat spoke up to stop Emmett from saying anything else, "you can just tell Bella where we're meeting up tomorrow, and she'll let us know." Kat announced, and headed out with a small wave in my direction.

"Wait!" Alice called and jumped out of my arms to stand in front of Kat.

"Yes?" Kat asked, an apprehensive look on her face.

"I just wanted to thank you." Alice told her. "You saved Bella when we weren't here, and you protected her when we couldn't. I owe you so much for that."

"It's what I do, apparently. Save half-dead girls and bring them to their mates." Kat dismissed with a small smile.

"And I also want to say I'm sorry. Sorry for everything that you've had to go through. And I'm sorry for-"

"No." Kat cut her off, a hard look on her face.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you dare be sorry for finding your mate." Kat gripped Alice's upper arms, staring straight into her eyes. "You two belong together. I can get over petty anger for having something taken from me, especially since she never truly belonged to me. So you should never be sorry for what happened in that clearing, okay? She's your true mate." Kat closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. "That's a rare thing to find in this world, even if my pride doesn't make it seem that way."

Alice looked completely shocked, but slowly collected herself and offered Kat a small smile. "Alright. But I am still sorry that your life was so hard. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, though I've heard that about fifty times now." Kat relented, letting go of Alice. Kat started to turn to leave, but Alice pulled her into a tight hug before she could go.

"Alright, alright. You proved your point. You can let me go now." Kat huffed, though I could see the smile trying to break through. Alice really had a gift when it came to getting people to like her.

"You really are just a big kitten underneath it all, aren't you?" Leah teased as the two turned to leave.

"Shut up…"

Once the pride left the other members of the Cullen family dispersed. Carlisle and Esme walked up the stairs, Marina pulled Jasper out to go hunting, and Emmett settled himself on a couch to play video games with Rosalie sitting close to him reading a magazine.

"So, I'm assuming you already have today completely planned out." I teased Alice once she rejoined me on the couch.

"Who, me?" She pointed at herself and gave me an innocent look.

"Yes you, you little control freak." I teased her.

"Well… You were supposed to be gone all day, so I was going to go shopping to distract myself." She admitted.

"I'm not spending my last stress-free day shopping." I told her, my tone relaying that there was no way in hell.

"Especially not with a face like that." Emmett chuckled from his position across the room.

"Is it really that bad?" I groaned, trying to look at my nose.

"No, you just have some bruising under your eyes." Alice assured me.

"Great." I grumbled.

"Well, I really don't want to sit here and listen to Emmett yell at the TV all day, so…"

"So?" I asked.

"What do you want to do?"

"Honestly? Just lie down somewhere and relax. I've had one hell of a day." I admitted with a laugh.

"Then it's decided." She declared, jumping off the couch. "Let's go."

"Go where?" I asked warily.

"Don't worry about it." She winked and gathered me into her arms, and before I had any idea what was going on we were running through the forest.

It was actually kind of relaxing having Alice carry me through the forest, though that probably had something to do with the fact it didn't give me motion sickness anymore. But I also just felt safe in her embrace, I knew that she would never drop me, never let go, and never let any harm come to me. So I nuzzled into her neck and enjoyed the ride, even though I still had no idea where we were going.

After a few minutes of running, Alice slowed down and eventually stopped, prompting me to raise my head and look at our surroundings. Looking around I realized it was the meadow where we had our first date just a few nights ago. Though at this point, that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"A nice place to just relax, that's what you wanted, right?" Alice asked as she put me down.

"You are a genius." I grinned and pulled her to the middle of the meadow.

"Of course I am." She stated matter-of-factly.

Rolling my eyes, I basically collapsed into the grass, pulling her smaller frame down with me, and pulled her into my side. She seemed perfectly okay with this, and wrapped her arms around my torso, nuzzling her face into my neck.

Of course, being Forks, it started to rain on us just as I was starting to fall asleep. It was only a light drizzle, but that didn't stop Alice from letting out a huff.

"It's raining." She muttered into my hair.

"Yes, it is. Why, are you worried about your hair? Is it going to frizz?" I teased, burring my nose into the object in question.

"Don't even joke about that." She grumbled.

I just chuckled quietly and pulled her closer to me.

"You are adorable, you know that, right?" I cooed at her.

She raised her head from its hiding place and shot me a glare, though on her it was not even a bit threatening, and just plain adorable.

Overcome with the sudden urge, I closed the small gap between us and pressed my lips to hers. She seemed to take this as an adequate apology, and returned the kiss, nipping on my bottom lip after a moment. The sudden graze of teeth on my skin had me gasping, and she took the opportunity to deepen the kiss and slip her tongue into my mouth.

Sadly, when she moved her face, she bumped into my nose, which had me hissing out in pain and caused her to pull away. I immediately missed the feeling of her kiss, but the stinging of my nose was also demanding my attention.

"Sorry." She chuckled, not sounding the least bit regretful.

"Not your fault." I said while rubbing my nose lightly. "Remind me next time I fight a werewolf to keep my face far away from its back feet."

"Will do." She giggled and placed a feather-light kiss to my nose, then cuddled up against my chest.

"I guess as a second option, this isn't too bad." I admitted after a moment, and she hummed in agreement.

And it was true. Lying there, with my mate snuggled up against me was just plain amazing. Even if it was raining, and a bit cold out, even though Alice herself was a bit chilly against me, despite my heightened body temperature, I was completely content. Probably more so than I had ever been in my life previously.

It was almost enough to make me forget about the upcoming battle looming over our heads. Almost.


	16. Chapter 16

Just as planned, the pride, pack, and Cullen coven were all gathered in a large clearing far away from town at exactly eight o'clock the next night. Kat was pacing back and forth, obviously still reeling from the information about her trainer coming back for her. Jasper was also pacing, though I could hear him mumbling to himself as he did so, trying to figure out how to best teach us all to fight. The wolves, still not trusting the vampires, were all shifted, lying near the tree line and watching the two moving supernaturals with gleaming eyes.

"I think it would be best if you start, Katherine." Jasper finally stopped pacing and spoke to the blonde Alpha. Her shoulders tensed up, but she nodded after a moment.

"Alright." She shook herself and turned to face the gathered group. "Rikki?" She called to the only member of our pride that was shifted. The leopard got up and padded up to Kat, ducking down and butting her softly with her head.

"For starters, shifters are obviously very large, and very strong." She pointed out, needlessly as Rikki dwarfed even her tall frame. "But despite that, we're faster than we look."

On cue Rikki reared up and leapt forward right into the vampire's faces before they could process what was going on, making a few of them stumble. She let out a low grumbling laugh and turned back to Kat, who glared at her. I guess that wasn't part of the plan.

"As I was saying, we're fast, and vampires usually don't take that into account. That's our biggest advantage, a vampire's arrogance." Kat told the Cullens. This of course drew several wolfy chuckles from the pack, and a few growls from the Cullens.

"You don't waste an opportunity to insult us, do you?" Rosalie hissed at the girl.

"I'm not insulting you. I'm stating a fact." Kat replied, her face deadly serious. "Take Emmett for example."

"What about me?" He asked, looking very confused.

"You're the strongest vamp in the coven. Right?" He nodded. "So let me ask this, could you beat me while I'm in this form?"

"Of course I could." He scoffed.

"Then show me." She challenged him back.

"I feel like this is going to end badly." Alice murmured from right beside me.

"It will." I sighed.

"Alright, but you asked for it." He grinned and stepped forward.

Rikki huffed and walked back to Danni to give the two more space for the unexpected tussle. Emmett strolled forward and, once close enough, dropped into a crouch, looking tensed for any movement from his opponent. Kat, the polar opposite, relaxed her body and leaned forward to stand on the balls of her feet.

Then she just waited. Eventually, Emmett must have grown bored, because he shot forward, my eyes barely able to follow. Just as he was about to crash into my Alpha, no doubt causing a lot of damage, she stepped to the side. Confused, Emmett turned to see a smirking Kat looking back at him. Letting out an aggravated growl, he charged her again, a bit slower this time; but just like the last time she side-stepped at the last moment.

This repeated several more times, Emmett obviously getting more frustrated with each near miss, and it showed in his fighting. Then, as he passed her once more, Kat's foot shot out and connected with his chest. Emmett stumbled slightly, and Kat seized the opportunity. She was quickly on the offensive, dealing several kicks and punches to his large body, until she finally got around to his back and forced him to the ground. She placed a foot on his back and forced his arms over and behind his back.

"You're strong, you're fast, and you're smart. And yes, I'm going to bruise just because I hit you. None of that is in question. But the fact is, most vampires fight like they are the _strongest_, the _fastest_, and the _smartest_. Hence, most of them fight arrogant." She announced, only letting Emmett up once she was done.

He slowly got up; looking a bit dazed, then shot Kat a glare. I was a bit nervous he was going to attack her again, but he only shook his head.

"You could have just said you could beat me, ya know?" He chuckled after a moment.

"Would you have believed me?" She smirked back.

"Not a chance." He laughed and stuck out his hand to shake hers. She looked absolutely stunned, but took the offered hand and shook it after a moment.

"Now, back to what I was saying." She motioned for Rikki to join her once more. "The two things you need to avoid when it comes to shifters: our claws and our fangs. We can tear apart a vampire in a matter of seconds if we manage to get ahold of one."

"So how would one dispatch a shifter?" Jasper asked, ever the strategist.

Kat looked incredibly uncomfortable with the question, for obvious reasons too. Answering the question let the vampires know how to kill us, and that's not something people like to share. Weaknesses are kept a secret for a reason, after all.

"We're most vulnerable at the back of our necks." She managed to get out. "If you can get on a shifter's back, you will most likely be able to kill it. Our defense mechanism is to flip over, but we can't crush or suffocate a vampire, so it would do anything other than inconvenience your kind. We will try to buck you off though."

"Anything else?" Jasper asked.

"Well, as Emmett so wonderfully demonstrated earlier, getting someone mad is the best way to make them fight sloppy." Kat shot the large vampire a smirk. "And if you want to get a shifter mad, you go for its tail." To demonstrate, she quickly yanked on the leopard's tail that was repeatedly hitting her back. Rikki let loose a snarl, both out of anger and surprise, but Kat just smirked at her. "That, and if it's a feline shifter, eliminating the tail takes away the shifter's balance."

"Well then, I suggest we practice. Each of the vampires should pair up with a shifter and try to climb onto its back, because I'm guessing it's not an easy feat." Jasper announced.

"Not even a little bit." Kat agreed. "And that will give the shifters practice in avoiding having someone climb our back."

"I call Bella." Alice declared, pulling me slightly away to an empty area.

"You want to practice killing me? That doesn't seem healthy for a relationship." I chuckled as Alice backed up slightly.

"If it was anyone else, I'd be too focused on ripping them apart for even trying to kill you, even if it's only pretend." She explained.

"True." I shrugged. She looked pointedly at me, and I realized that I needed to shift. Which meant I needed to undress. Yeah, that wasn't happening right here. "I need to shift."

"Yes, and I'm waiting." Alice responded and motioned for me to go ahead.

"I'm not getting undressed in a clearing with this many people around!" I hissed out as quietly as I could.

"Oh, right." She quickly took my hand and pulled me just inside the tree line so I was shielded.

"Um…" I realized that she was still staring right at me.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to stand there and watch me?" I asked in a voice that was far higher than usual.

"Why not, I'm bound to see it eventually." She said, though it was obvious she was joking. Or half-joking? Or maybe not at all? Goddess, my head got messed up around the small vampire. "But if it makes you uncomfortable I can leave…"

"Um…" _Wow Bella, way to be articulate._ "I'll just turn around." Yep, my head was officially messed with.

Ignoring the voices in my head yelling at each other (no, I'm not crazy… at least, I don't think so) I turned and lifted my shirt over my head before I could think about it. Of course, a gasp from Alice had me turning around to see what was the matter.

Once I had turned around, I saw her eyes were locked onto my side. The side that still bore the teeth marks from my change.

"I told you we keep the mark forever." I muttered, feeling rather self-conscious as she stared at me.

"I know, I just… didn't think it would…"

"Bother you?" I muttered, turning my gaze to the ground.

"Not for the reason you think." She took a step forward and turned my head so I was meeting her gaze. "It's a reminder to me that I wasn't here to protect you, and that kills me. The scar itself isn't what bothers me, it's what it represents." She explained, unshedable tears shinning in her eyes.

"As long as you don't leave again, then I don't blame you." I told her. And I realized I didn't care much that she had left anymore. She was here now, and that was all that mattered. Yep, now my head was messed with _and_ I was going soft.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to blame myself." She murmured, dropping one of her hands to run it along the slightly raised skin of the scar.

At her ice-cold touch, I couldn't help the shudder that ran through my body. It was like every nerve was on fire, and I was hyper-aware of the vampire in front of me. Hell, even her scent seemed to become much more potent, surrounding me in a haze of Alice.

And when she tilted her head up and pressed her lips into mine, I was officially gone. All I could hear, see, smell, feel, and think about was Alice. The way she fit against my body. The way her frigid temperature seemed to make my warmer body catch fire. The way her lips, so soft despite the marble-like skin she possessed, fit so perfectly against mine. And the way she made my whole body hum with a foreign energy that was so pleasant to experience.

A thud and growl from somewhere near us allowed some of my conscious mind to return, and made me realize that making out with Alice in the middle of the woods was not what I needed to be doing right now, even if it was I wanted to be doing.

"Alice…" I muttered against her mouth.

"What?" She pulled away slightly, letting me see two black eyes staring back at me. Wow, I never knew black could be such a beautiful color… "Bella?" Her question snapped me back to reality.

"We need to be training right now." I sighed, stepping back a bit. I knew that if I stood there with her in my arms, training would be the farthest thing from my mind.

"Right…" She grumbled.

"It might be better if you go back and wait for me. I'm less likely to be distracted that way." I chuckled.

"I'm not that distracting." She huffed turning to go.

"You are incredibly distracting." I told her with a laugh.

Thankfully she just ignored it and kept walking, giving me the needed privacy to strip down and shift, shedding human skin in favor of my panther's pelt. However, maneuvering out of the trees wasn't quite as easy, as Alice didn't pick a very wide path when we came into the woods. But eventually I made it back into the clearing, only a few twigs in my fur.

"Sorry." Alice smiled sheepishly when she saw the offending braches, though she didn't sound very sorry when a small snort escaped her lips. I just huffed at her and stood a bit in front of her, hoping she got the hint.

She must have, because with a wink she was coming at me, taking a very forward approach. Once she was close enough she pushed off the ground and did a rather graceful flip to land the correct way on my back. It almost made me feel bad rearing up and knocking her down with a heavy paw. Of course, she had just laughed at me, so I wasn't feeling too bad when she landed on her butt with a huff.

She growled softly and got up for a second attack, this time opting to go for my sides. Again I managed to knock her down, though she did manage to get a foot and a hand on my shoulder before I did so.

This went on for a little while, Alice leaping at me and me trying to knock her down. At the end of it I'd say we were about tied in out success, though she did insist that she won, so I just butted my head into her back once it was turned and caused her to fall forward. And really, that was all the victory I needed.

"You two done over there?" Emmett called out, watching us with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

"Are we calling it a night?" Alice called back, brushing herself off.

"Jasper wants to have a talk, so Bella's supposed to get dressed, unless she wants to sit here naked." He replied, his grin morphing into a smirk.

_"I bet Alice wouldn't mind that one bit."_ Rikki's voice sounded in my head.

_Oh shut up…_ I grumbled, trying not to let my mind wander to earlier.

_"Wow, already half way there just tonight?"_ Rikki laughed at the images that of course popped to the front of my mind.

I just sent a growl her way and sulked into the trees to retrieve my clothes. Once fully dressed, I headed back out to the small gathering of people sitting in the grass around Jasper, who was pacing once again.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked as I sat down next to Alice, and far away from Rikki who shot me a smirk. We were going to have to talk about personal boundaries soon. That or I could blackmail her somehow. I'm sure the Cullens would find it hilarious how whipped she was when it came to Danni.

"Most of the pack wanted to head home. Sam's still recovering after all." Leah told me, making me realize that it was just her, Seth, and Jacob left from the pack.

"But we figured that some of us needed to stay to talk strategy." Jacob answered. "And right now, I kind of represent the pack." He informed me, though didn't look too pleased about it.

"So what did we need to discuss anyway?" I asked Jasper.

"I realized that we have a small problem." He announced.

"Other than the group of vamps and shifters coming to kill us?" Kat muttered.

"Yes, other than that. During the fight, differentiating between The Pit shifters and our own might become tricky." Jasper pointed out.

"Oh." Kat replied. "You're right."

"I was thinking that we need some sort of mark to show us which shifters aren't going to try to rip us apart." He told us with a grim smile.

"As crude as it sounds, we could do something simple like tie a colored string around our neck or paw. The only problem is that it might fall off or be ripped off during the fight." Danni spoke up.

"It has potential, but you're right about losing it while fighting." Jasper mused.

"The pack all have cords tied around our front left paw to hold clothes while we're shifted." Jacob pointed out. "We could get a couple more for the pride. They're really durable so they shouldn't fall off easily."

"For now, that will be our plan, and a good one at that. If anyone else thinks of something better, then let us know." Jasper announced with a nod, though still looked deep in thought.

"Are we done here?" Kat asked and Jasper and he gave her a very distracted nod. "Good, then-"

Whatever she wanted to say was cut off but a loud crack in the woods directly in front of us. Every head in the clearing snapped up to locate the noise, and everyone sitting shot up to be ready for whatever it was.

Another snap soon followed the first, which had us all tensed as something came out of the tree line. Of course, I don't think any of us was prepared for the beast that did emerge.

My first thought was that it was a werewolf, the body shape and size were right, and the paws were identical. There were a few problems with that theory, however, and the main one was the distinct lack of snarling coming from the mystery creature. It also didn't reek, instead only smelled a bit stronger than the wolf shifters. The head was also different; its muzzle was longer, its ears weren't quite as long, and its eyes were a deep brown, not a soulless black.

"Lycan." Kat announced, answering the unasked question we were all no doubt thinking of.

"What's a lycan?" Alice asked me, but I only shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. Right now, we knew the exact same amount.

"I sincerely hope that you're not here looking for trouble." Kat stepped forward and addressed the lycan. Carlisle quickly stepped forward as well, prepared to speak as the coven leader for the land.

"Still completely paranoid I see." A voice seemingly came from nowhere at Kat's statement, causing her to tense up.

Not a moment later, a form straightened up from the lycan's back, and once the large supernatural was lowered to the floor, the passenger slid off its mount.

Taking a look at the newcomer, I saw it was a woman, a gorgeous one at that. She had long black hair hanging down her back and framing an angular face that was facing my Alpha. She would have been even prettier if an ugly glare wasn't plastered on her face, two bright blue eyes narrowed at my Alpha.

I had no idea who the woman could be until she produced a cane and began limping forward, her left leg covered in a multitude of angry looking scars. Then it hit me, this woman was Skylar, the old doctor from The Pit. Kat's old mate, the one that left her for her Imprint all those years ago, leaving the girl a broken mess.

Oh, this was going to be bad…

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry, I know I'm a bad person... But I'll try to get the next chapter out as quickly as I can! Reviews do inspire me, and I'd even take you guys yelling at me to hurry up.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Look at this, I feel guilty and I write more. Who'd have know, right? So enjoy this bonus chapter, and please bear with me, I promise to pump out these chapters as fast as I can, but life does occasionally get in the way.**

**Also, your reviews yelling at me to hurry up were much appreciated, and obviously effective**

* * *

"Skylar…" Kat just about whimpered when the girl finally stood right in front of the shuddering Alpha. I was so focused on what was about to happen between the two women that I never even noticed the lycan turn back into a man, who thankfully had the thought to slip on a pair of shorts.

In fact, I only noticed him when he walked right up to Kat and punched her straight in the face. From somewhere on my right Leah let out a loud snarl and bounded forward, catching Kat when she just about fell backwards from the force.

"Feel better?" Kat asked the lycan, who was staring at her as if he couldn't believe he actually struck her.

"Not even a little bit." A heavily southern-accented voice answered her, sounding rather disappointed.

"Didn't think so." Kat hissed out as she straightened up out of Leah's hold. "You broke my nose."

"At least I left your eyes alone." He growled and motioned to the heavily scarred right side of his face, along with the obviously useless eye. Damn, when Kat said she attacked him she left of the fact that she practically mauled him.

"You're not mad at him?" Leah growled, obviously trying to reign in the rage that was threatening a shift.

"I kind of deserved it." Kat shrugged, but the tension was obvious in her shoulders. "But that's beside the point. Why are you here Skylar? You didn't track me down after more than twenty years to have your boyfriend punch me in the face."

"Almost thirty years. Almost thirty years of freedom and you're their pet again?" The shifter growled out, ignoring Kat's question.

"Excuse me?"

"What, spend seven years fighting for them and it becomes instinct?" Skylar motioned to the Cullens, and her anger suddenly made sense. Though Kat still seemed stunned, so I did the stupid thing. I joined the conversation that had nothing to do with me.

"We're not fighting for them, we're fighting with them." I tried to clarify, walking forward to stand by my Alpha. Alice tried to follow, but I motioned for her to stop. Obviously this girl had some serious problems with vampires.

"And you would be?"

"Bella. Kat's my Alpha, and I don't really appreciate you talking to her like that." I answered, trying not to growl at the newcomer. She had a way of grating on my nerves, though I didn't really know why.

"Alpha?" Skylar asked, her anger slipping for the first time of the night as she glanced at Kat. "You said that you'd never be an Alpha."

"Long story, but things change." Kat replied.

"Well Bella," Skylar fixed her attention on me again, "you can't fight with a vampire. That would imply trusting the monsters."

"Well _Skylar_," I mirrored her high and mighty tone, "we do trust them."

"Then you're stupider than you look." She hissed. "And you lost all of your sense." She told Kat.

"One of them is Bella's Imprint." Kat said simply, causing Skylar's face to contort in confusion. "And I made the mistake of abandoning a friend and her Imprint once already."

"She Imprinted on a leech?" Skylar whispered, causing me to let loose a growl. I still didn't really like it when people insulted Alice just because of what she was. She didn't choose to become a vampire, after all.

"They're not leeches. Surprisingly." Kat chuckled. "Not like the ones we knew. They're good, or at least they try to be. They don't kill humans, they protect them. And they accepted us into their family without question, no matter how uncomfortable it was, and still is."

I think everyone in the clearing was staring at Kat in utter astonishment at that point. She just stood up for the Cullens. Kat, the one that hated vampires more than anyone, and rightfully so, just defended an entire coven. I didn't know whether to faint or pull her into a hug.

"That is very hard to believe." Skylar crossed her arms and scowled, though she looked slightly conflicted.

"They're standing here right now, not ripping you to shreds for insulting them. That's something, right?" Kat asked, causing Skylar's eyes to scan all of the Cullen's faces.

"Honestly, I'm just waiting for Leah to do it." Emmett said with a hearty laugh.

"And why is that?" Skylar asked him.

"That would be her Imprint. And you're not being very nice to her right now." Emmett replied with an easy smile.

"I am about one more nasty comment away from giving her the same scar her boyfriend has." Leah rumbled from right behind Kat, who smartly grabbed her hand to anchor her to the spot.

"She has a reason to be angry with me…" Kat muttered to Leah.

"Don't really care." Leah growled back, eyes still narrowed at the shifter in question. "And the boy broke your nose."

"Can we move this along?" Rosalie's voice carried over the two's hushed conversation. "Some of us would rather be anywhere else."

"So, they're good people?" Skylar asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry, Rose is a softy deep down." I chuckled.

"In a moment I'm going to show everyone how soft you are on the inside. Staring with your guts." She growled back.

"Ignoring them, why are you here Skylar?" Kat asked.

"Look, I'm still angry with you, but I've been hearing rumors around that The Pit is coming for you. And as angry as I am, I don't want you dead." Skylar sighed and ran her hand through her long hair.

"We know." Kat told her, causing Skylar to look up in confusion. "A perk of hanging out with vampires all day, one of them may be an oracle. But if you have any specifics then we'd appreciate them greatly."

"Well, last I heard, The Pit took out twelve of their fighters; five felines, three wolves, two bears, and two lycans. And there are strange rumors that they are going to meet up with a group of vampires, but that sounds like bullshit to me."

"It's not." Kat told her with a grimace. "A psychotic vampire made an army of newborns and is coming here too."

"Then you have a lot of work to do, don't you?" Skylar asked.

"We're getting there." Kat nodded.

"Well then, be careful Katherine. Like I said, I don't really want to see you dead, and especially not because of that asshole Jax."

"Thank you for the warning, I really do appreciate it. I know how much it took to come and find me after all this time." Kat gave the crippled shifter a small smile before turning to the lycan. "And I am really sorry about what I did to you. Finding your mate should be the greatest moment of your life, and I kind of ruined that."

"Nothing could have ruined me finding Skylar." He told her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "But I appreciate the sentiment."

"Then this is goodbye. I hope you make it out of the fight Katherine. You and your Imprint." Skylar nodded to the blonde.

"Thanks."

With that the lycan shuddered and sifted again, the change itself looking far more uncomfortable and clumsy than any of the shifter's changes, and allowed Skylar to climb his back. Then they were gone, the lycan's large form disappearing seamlessly into the trees.

"So, the big bad Alpha actually likes us?" Emmett blurred over to Kat and poked her in the side. Wow, the big guy really had no idea what tact was, did he? He was mocking her in a time like this?

"Just remember, I can have you pinned under my foot in under a minute if I really felt like it." Kat turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised high.

"Naw, that was just a fluke. Besides, even if you can, I could kick your ass in Call of Duty any day, so I'll just take pride in that."

"No you can't, and I can guarantee that."

"Then show me." He repeated her earlier words, causing an evil grin to break out on her face.

"You're on." Holy crap, Emmett was officially a genius. In under a minute he directed her attention far from her bitchy ex, and onto something much safer to dwell on. I would never question the huge vampire ever again. "And thank you."

"For what?" He asked innocently.

"Kicking your ass will be a fantastic distraction." Kat shrugged and began walking in the direction of the Cullen mansion, pulling Leah with her. Kat may have been slightly distracted, but Leah still looked practically murderous.

"Is that what I did?" He laughed and followed her.

"Great, so our house is going to reek of the sifters tonight!" Rosalie grumbled and threw her hands into the air before following the three.

"Well, I'm going to say that we're calling it a night. Come one Jaz." Marina grinned and pulled the blonde man in the opposite direction of the quickly disappearing group.

"And where would you like to go?" Alice asked, appearing suddenly by my side, causing me to jump, even though she did that constantly, vampire speed and all. But my nerves were still a bit shot, so sue me…

"Honestly, watching your brother yell at Kat and passing out on the couch sound like heaven to me right now." I told her.

"Alrighty then, to the Cullen abode!" She declared, grabbing hold of my hand and jogging away, pulling me right along with her.

**XXXXX**

It was the fourth training session with everyone present, including Sam, though he was still in human form due to the healing. But Carlisle assured him that he'd be up to one hundred percent in about two more days. According to Alice's visions, we still had a week and a half until the fight would happen, as long as no one decided to attack earlier.

This training session was happening much earlier in the day though, due to the fact that tonight was the full moon, and a few of us wouldn't be able to train tonight.

And thankfully, after a tiring three hours of working how to kill a newborn, Jasper declared that we were done. But of course we still had our quick after-training meeting.

"I had an idea." I declared as we spoke strategy. "You said that a newborn's control is awful, so what if we used that to our advantage."

"How so?" Jasper asked.

"The day of the fight, we put blood on the trees and ground. It would mess the newborns up, and might even prompt them to attack the shifters." I told him my idea, hoping he wouldn't think it was stupid.

"That's ingenious!" Well, he didn't think it was stupid. "Carlisle can get human blood from the hospital and we can spread it. It would be better if it was fresh, but that's not really an option." Jasper declared, his eyes gleaming in excitement.

"I also had a thought." Alice said, straightening up from leaning on me. "Though it's not a good idea or anything."

"What would that be?" Jasper asked her.

"We've gone over how to kill vampires and shifters, but what about Kat's trainer. He's neither. Hell, we don't even know what he is." Alice said, looking at the Alpha, who was now staring a hole in the ground.

"He's an incubus. But no one is going to worry about him." She grumbled.

"Why not? I'd love to get my fangs into him after all he put you through." Leah declared from right next to Kat.

"No!" She shot up and looked at Leah with wide eyes. "You're not going to get anywhere near him!"

"And why not?" Leah asked.

"He's an _incubus_." Kat repeated.

"I don't think anyone knows what that means Katherine." Carlisle told her.

"Does anyone know what a succubus is?" She asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Vaguely." Carlisle admitted. And if Carlisle didn't know, that meant none of us knew.

"Succubi and Incubi, in human mythology, are demons that seduce humans for their life force. It's actually one of the few creatures that the humans got right. A succubus is a female that will seduce anyone interested in women. An incubus is a male that will seduce anyone interested in men. They feed on the sexual desires that their prey produces; similar to how a vampire feeds on blood.

"They can also control their prey, make them do whatever they want. All it takes is one touch, and you're under their spell." Kat explained.

"So they feed on desire? And control people just by touch?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes."

"And your trainer was an incubus?" His next question was delivered delicately, but the implication behind it was clear.

"He couldn't control me. At first he thought it was because I was going through the change, that my hormones were all messed up because of it. But then he tried again, and again, and again. He could never control me." Kat answered the question, but refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"What makes you so special?" Rosalie asked.

"Nothing. I'm just not interested in men. Not even one little bit. So as a male seductress, he had no hold on me. So he just beat me instead." She growled. "That's why no one is going to touch him, because I'm pretty sure being completely interested in women isn't a common factor between all of us. So I'm going to be the one that kills him. Without his powers, Jax is helpless."

"Did he… did he ever…?" Rosalie's voice came out unusually quiet and shaky as she tried to get though the question. Even though she was unable to, we all knew what the end of that question was.

"No. Rape is like poison to an incubus. There's no desire, no passion involved. Instead only fear and hate, which sap their strength. If he had ever tried, he wouldn't have lived, and not because I would have torn him apart if he laid a hand on me like that." Kat answered her, offering the blonde vampire a small smile.

"Good." Rose nodded at the shifter, and I felt like I was missing something very big.

"Look, as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, the pride is going to have to shift soon." Kat motioned to the rapidly raising moon.

"Of course. We'll leave you to your hunting then." Carlisle nodded and made to leave, along with the rest of the Cullens. But not before Esme pulled Kat into a sudden hug, surprising her. Of course that was nothing compared to the surprise on all of our faces when Rose put her hand on Kat's shoulder and gave her a small nod before following her family.

"Alice?" Esme called to her smallest daughter when the pixie stuck to my side.

"This is a weird question, but I wanted to know if I could run with you tonight?" Alice asked me.

"Kat?" I asked the Alpha, unsure what would happen if I ran with a vampire on the full moon, when my control was weakest.

"I don't know. You'd be fine, I'm sure, considering she's your mate, but it's the rest of us I'm worried about. We should be fine, again since she's your mate, but I just don't know." Kat told me.

In the back of my mind I knew why Alice didn't want to leave. After all, this could be the last full moon I saw. Or that she saw. So neither of us really wanted to leave the other. I was suddenly jealous of the rest of my pride, Danni and Rikki being the same species, and Kat at least having a mate the same type of supernatural, who could run on four paws with her tonight. So I made a decision, maybe not the smartest one, but I was going to be with my mate tonight.

"Alright." I nodded at my Alpha and grabbed Alice's hand. "Then I'll run separate from you guys tonight."

Kat gave me a small knowing smile and nodded knowing the draw to our mates, especially on the night when we were most driven by our instincts. Danni grinned at me, and even Rikki offered me a smile.

"See you tomorrow then Bells." Rikki called out as I lead Alice away from the pride.

"I didn't want to cause a problem. You can run with them if you want." Alice told me in a small voice.

"Naw, all we do is eat together. We hunt separate, just like real big cats. I'm not really missing much." I assured her and turned back to give her a smile.

"If you're sure."

"Trust me, I'd much rather be with you than see every one of them with their mates all night." I told her, finally reaching our meadow.

"You remembered how to get here." She chuckled.

"I may have a terrible sense of direction, but I know where this place is." I laughed, pulling her to the middle of the clearing.

Looking up, I saw the full moon hanging in the sky, so close to the highest point. It called to me, pulling the panther to the surface, and prompting me to begin undressing, not even sparing a thought to the fact Alice was right next to me, and no doubt watching the whole thing. The second the last article of clothing hit the floor, my human skin gave to the panther, and I was letting loose a roar into the night.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." A high, bell-like voice sounded from right next to me, causing me to turn my head to see the tiny pixie gazing at me in wonder.

And I couldn't help but gaze back with just as much awe. The moon caused her already flawless skin to practically glow under its light, contrasting sharply with the raven hair that framed her face.

"And you're so dang tall, even like this." She chuckled after a moment. It was true, even as a panther she didn't reach my shoulder, hell, even the top of her head was under the bottom of my chin. So I let out a grumbling laugh and lowered my head to look at her better.

But as wonderful of a view as it was, the second prey scent hit my nose my attention was drawn away. She must have gotten the hint, because she started to move to the trees.

"Hunting time then?" She asked.

I just let loose a growl and began bounding into the trees, surprising her with my speed. She was actually running as fast as she could to keep up with me. And thanks to my speed, it wasn't long until we came upon a herd of deer, none of which stood a chance once I reached them.

Lying down, I began tearing into the prey animal I caught, enjoying the meal. I wasn't until I heard movement near me that I looked up, ready to growl out a warning at the creature disturbing me. That is, until I identified the scent of the creature.

No, not a creature, my mate. Alice. She was standing there, unsure of what to do, her own catch at her feet. The hunter in me grumbled slightly at the competition, but the panther, who I was realizing was a big kitten at heart, almost started purring at the sight.

So, to put her at ease I let loose a chirp, perked my ears up, and swished my tail, hoping she'd realize that I was relaxed, and that she was allowed closer. She must have gotten the hint, because she began moving closer, though at a very slow pace. Probably a good idea, sudden movement might bring the hunter out after all.

Eventually she did make it to right next to me, and settled down to start her own meal. And of course, her only draining the blood out of the animal, she was done much faster than I was. She looked up once she realized I was watching her, and I saw her eyes were an endless black. Her top lip began to curl back, but she seemed to catch herself, and gave her head a small shake before looking at me again, her eyes just the slightest bit lighter.

"I think I need another deer." She chuckled quietly to herself. And of course, the panther once again being a bit kitten, I nudged my kill towards my mate. "Oh honey, that's sweet, but half the blood is already on the floor."

I let out another chirp at this and began to get up.

"No, you finish your catch, I'll be back before you know it." She gave me a small smile and zipped off before I could argue. Not that arguing without actually being able to speak would have done much…

But she was right, I had just finished my catch and was cleaning my muzzle when she reappeared, her eyes practically glowing golden at that point. And instead of speaking, she just slowly lowered herself to my side and watched me.

Wanting contact of any sort, I scooted closer so that she was pressed up into my belly fur. She let out a content hum and snuggled into the softest part of my pelt, closing her eyes. If I hadn't known any better, I'd swear that she was asleep by how peaceful she looked.

Letting loose a yawn, I rested my head on my paws, and curled myself around my mate, falling asleep to the content hum coming from her, the noise a higher and quieter version of the rumbling coming from me.


	18. Chapter 18

Training had been going great, or at least as great as it could have been considering we were practicing killing each other I guess. However, a strange routine had been formed ever since the day Skylar appeared in the training clearing. Every day, before the actual session, the pride, and most of the time Leah, all gathered in the Cullen house. Usually the gathering involved video games and a lot of yelling, but somehow acted to calm us anyways.

If someone had asked Kat why we gathered in a house of vampires every day she would probably give some bullshit answer about getting to know the people that we had to fight with in only a weeks time. But the answer would have been just that, complete bullshit.

In all honesty, I could tell Kat actually had warmed up to the Cullens, it was hard not to after all. With Esme insisting on cooking for us and Emmett providing constant brotherly teasing and humor, the house was always welcoming. That, and the fact that Carlisle loved to ask Kat about anything supernatural she had come across in her time, and shared his own stories right back.

So yes, the Cullen's place had become a second house to the pride, even Rikki had allowed herself to enjoy the afternoons spent there, which was quite the accomplishment.

Currently, Kat, Leah, and Emmett were playing some sort of shooting game while Danni and Alice gushed about some sort of girly television show that they both watched, but had very different opinions on the ending. I was sitting with Rikki, both of our attention split between the game and the debate that the two tiny supernaturals were engrossed in, which was actually rather adorable.

"No fair!" Emmett's voice caused my head to turn towards the game. "You two keep ganging up on me."

"Were you expecting anything else?" Kat teased and threw him a smirk, then high-fived the wolf-shifter.

"I mean really." Leah chuckled. "It's been like that for the past three games, which makes it three to zero. You ready to give up yet?"

"If I had someone helping me out, you two would be so dead…" Emmett mumbled to himself, but shot Rosalie a glance.

"Not a chance." She brushed off as she turned the page of her book.

"Why not?"

"Because you'd be the reason we lost, and I don't really want to lose to two shifters." She replied calmly.

"Fine. Rematch then?" Emmett asked the two girls.

"Eh, why not?" Kat shrugged and set up the next game.

"Bells, you wanna jump in? I bet we could take them." Emmett asked me, holding out a controller to me.

"Why not?" I shrugged and took the offered controller from Emmett.

Fifteen deaths and not a single kill later, I realized exactly why not… And I couldn't even blame distraction, seeing as Alice and Danni seemed to have finished their argument. Finally, as the game drew to a close, accompanied by a huff from Emmett, Danni spoke up.

"You know, I just realized something." The small blonde mused.

"And what would that be?" I asked her.

"You and Kat never got to ask Jacob's dad about the bond between you two." Danni answered.

"Bond?"

"What bond?"

Leah and Alice's voices seemed to blend together as they asked their questions.

"You never told her?" I asked Kat.

"Well, you never told _her_." Kat grumbled back.

"I had no idea what it was, how was I supposed to tell her?"

"And you think I know any more than you?"

"How about you just tell us what you do know." Alice suggested, putting an end to our little argument. Looking at her, I realized she didn't _look_ too mad, though she was probably pretty good at hiding her emotions by now.

"Kat?" I motioned for her to explain.

"Wuss…" She muttered, then looked between our two Imprints. "When I first saw Bella, some sort of bond formed. It wasn't as strong as an Imprint bond, but it was strong enough to make me change her, strong enough to make me want to keep her alive no matter what." She then turned her attention solely of Leah. "I'll be honest though, I've noticed it less when I'm around you."

"I've noticed that too, but when I'm with Alice." I told Kat.

"Hey Bella, what about that weird thing when Kat and Sam had the Alpha bond. You said that you could hear them." Rikki spoke up.

"You could hear us?" Kat asked me, sounding rather surprised.

"Yeah, but it was much quieter than a normal pride mind conversation would be."

"That's… odd." Kat finally said.

"Look, if you want to talk to Billy about this weird bond thing, why don't you?" Leah asked Kat bumping her shoulder. Leah didn't look angry either, and it was usually easier to read the shifter than it was a vampire. Maybe they were just curious what it was, and Kat and I weren't going to be in trouble with our respective mates.

"We were going to, the day we met the council. But then the werewolf happened, and getting ready for the battle seemed so much more important. And like we said, the bond is kind of becoming a background thing." Kat shrugged. "But asking Billy about the bond, and figuring it out what it means would probably be a good thing."

"Then it's settled, I'll call Billy." Leah stated, pulling out her cell phone.

"Right now?" I asked her.

"Sure. If we go now we'll be able to make it back for training." She told me as she held the phone up to her ear, and before I could say anything else she was talking into the cell.

The conversation itself was very short, Leah basically asked if we could come over, then thanked him, then hung up. It probably lasted no more than a minute in total.

"We're all set." Leah announced, standing up and pulling Kat with her.

Not a moment later, Alice was pulling me up as well, following the now retreating Leah and Kat out the door. It seemed our mates were more eager to get this whole situation sorted out than Kat and I were.

"And where do you think you're going?" Leah asked Alice once she noticed the girl pulling me along.

"If you're allowed on our land almost every day, then I think I can come onto your land for one afternoon." Alice retorted.

"Fine." Leah grumbled, though seemed none too pleased about it.

Still reeling a bit from the sudden direction of events today, I was completely compliant as Alice led me to the passenger seat of a car and ushered me inside. Hell, I barely noticed as Alice zipped to the diver's door and quickly got in, started the car, and drove away. And of course, since it was Alice driving, we made it to La Push in record time, and before I knew it, we were all walking into Billy's home.

"It's good to see you all." Billy smiled at Kat and me warmly as he wheeled into the room. He even spared Alice a small nod of recognition, which was a pretty big deal for any native here. "Leah says that you have something that you wanted to ask me about."

"Yes." Kat nodded and sat herself down on a chair across from Billy. Following suit, I sat down on the couch, and was quickly joined by Alice. Leah chose to just stand to Kat's side, her arms crossed as she leaned up against the chair. "I wanted to ask you if you've ever heard of a bond between shifters that's not an Imprint bond."

"Actually, I have. Quite a few different types of bonds exist, so I'm going to need some more detail if you'd like any information." Billy answered.

"I don't know much about it to be honest." Kat admitted.

"Do you have this bond, along with your Imprint?"

"Yes."

"Then just describe what the bond makes you feel." Billy suggested helpfully.

"Well, it started when my pride found Bella right after the vampire attacked her, before she was a shifter. When I saw her in the clearing I felt a pull towards her, and it was like I had no choice but to change her to keep her alive. But my pride-mates told me that the pull was nothing compared to the strength of an Imprint." Kat explained.

"Also, I can hear her Alpha conversations, and I'm told I shouldn't have been able to." I threw in, trying to help out.

"I see." Billy nodded, furrowing his brows in contemplation. "This may seem like an odd question, but were you two involved before you found your Imprints?"

"Um… yes." I answered, a faint blush on my cheeks. I didn't really want to discuss my past relationship with Jacob's father of all people.

"And was this relationship romantic, or purely sexual?" Came his next question.

Well, if I thought I was blushing before, it was nothing compared to now. Though I wasn't the only one affected by the question it seemed. Kat actually choked a bit on nothing, Alice had completely seized up, and Leah almost fell over in shock.

"Romantic." Kat finally managed to get out.

"Not sexual." I reinforced. Next to me, I could feel Alice physically relax. What, did she really think after only two months I'd jump into bed with someone? Well, okay, so we shared a bed, but that was all!

"I'm guessing that it didn't feel right to be involved that way?" Billy asked, and I shook my head quickly. Alright, he was pushing so many boundaries right now. Sure, he was hitting the nail on the head, but that was beside the point!

"Can we just get to the point?" Kat asked, though her voice seemed to have raised a few octaves.

"I think that the two of you have an Alpha-Beta bond." Billy concluded, looking rather amused at out reactions.

"And that would be?" I asked.

"There are stories in which the Alpha and his Beta have a special connection. This makes their packs stronger than it would have been otherwise. According to legend, this bond occurs when neither Alpha nor Beta have an Imprint, and it results in the two coming to care deeply for one another. Really, this is to benefit the Alpha, so that he wouldn't need to worry about his Beta trying to kill him for power. But it had other effects; a view into Alpha conversations for the Beta for example." Billy explained.

"So Bella is my Beta?" Kat asked, glancing at me.

"It would seem so." Billy nodded. "Also, I'm guessing that the bond led to the two of you becoming involved in a relationship, as you two don't mind being involved with the same gender."

"And what happens to the Alpha-Beta bond once the two find their Imprints?" Alice asked him.

"The bond becomes a little less important, but will always be present. The fondness a Beta feels for their Alpha will remain, to keep the Beta from killing the Alpha." Billy answered her.

"Like she could kill me." Kat rolled her eyes.

"I'd be careful of your pride, Katherine. Wasn't it you that told the vampires that arrogance was their greatest downfall?" Billy told her.

"Right…" Kat deflated slightly.

"Still, I don't think I'd ever _want_ to kill her. Bond or not, I'm not super keen on murder." I cut in.

"What if an Alpha does something that goes directly against her pride's morals? What if the Beta knew that what the Alpha was doing was wrong?" Kat asked him, looking a bit worried. But I knew that that worry wasn't for herself, instead it was for the rest of us. Kat hated using Alpha commands; so controlling me without even meaning to would obviously freak her out.

"The emotions that result from the bond can't control the Beta, just act as a guide. The bond can't control anyone's actions, it's simply a way to help a group of shifters have peace." Billy assured her.

"Good." Kat visibly relaxed at that.

"So, this Alpha-Beta bond can't interfere with an Imprint bond, right?" Leah asked.

Is that why the she and Alice had been so eager to have this talk? Did they really think that Kat and I were going to run away together and leave them behind? Wow, I was bad at reading situations if I was just realizing this… Even if there was no chance in that ever happening.

"Of course not. The most important thing to a shifter is their Imprint, and nothing can change that." Billy actually looked confused as to why Leah would even ask such a question.

"Good."

"Well, I'm happy that I could help clear everything up for you girls." Billy said after a moment of silence. "But I believe that it's time to leave for your training."

"Thank you Billy." Leah nodded at the older man and turned to leave.

The rest of us quickly followed suit, emerging from the small house.

"I'm glad we got that all cleared up." Alice beamed up at me.

"It's nice to know what the bond was, yeah." I said, not quite as enthusiastic. Truth be told, I was confused as to why Alice would even consider that she had competition in Kat. And it made me the slightest bit angry. Not enough to show, but enough to be in the back of my head. I knew that vampires could get possessive, but if this was going to be a constant thing then we were going to have to talk about it.

Alice was about to say something else when her face went blank, and I was worried that she was having one of those terrible visions again. My fears were dismissed a moment later when she snapped out of the vision with only a slight frown on her face.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"Edward's back." She replied curtly.

Well, that's just fantastic…

**XXXXX**

It didn't take us long to get to the clearing, again due to the ridiculous speed that vampires seemed to favor while driving. So I didn't really get much time to collect myself in preparation of seeing Edward again.

Sure, I knew he was coming home soon; after all, a psychotic vampire and a group of shifters that did nothing but fight were threatening his family. So yes, I knew he was coming back, but I wasn't really counting down the days or anything. It was similar to knowing that eventually your wisdom teeth have to come out. You didn't eagerly await the actual event; instead you tried not to dwell on it.

The second I entered the area I saw him; he was talking to Carlisle, probably trying to catch up on everything that had happened while he was gone. I didn't move until Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me forward towards the gathered group of shifters.

"You guys get everything cleared up?" Rikki asked me once I got close enough.

"Yeah." I muttered, trying not to glance over to Edward. I was still a bit nervous to have Alice and him too close. Like he said, vampires were incredibly possessive creatures, so I was guessing neither of them was going to do great with the other one.

"And?" Rikki prompted.

Figuring I needed to distract myself from the bronze-haired boy across the clearing, I decided to just have some fun with Rikki instead.

"Well, I officially outrank you now." I told her with a smirk.

"Excuse me?" Rikki asked, straightening up slightly.

"I'm your Beta." I clarified.

"Says who?" Rikki grumbled. I could tell she was getting a bit riled up, nothing too dangerous, but enough to entertain me for sure. It was a nice change, me teasing her for once.

"The bond that we formed." Kat spoke up, no doubt trying to avoid a scene between Rikki and me.

"What?" Rikki turned to the Alpha, confusion apparent on her face.

"I'll explain later." Kat dismissed, turning her attention towards Jasper, who was looking at our group expectantly.

"Are we ready to begin?" Jasper asked.

Kat nodded and we split up into our groups to practice fighting multiple opponents at once. Thanks to the foresight of Jasper, and most likely Carlisle, Edward was not included in my group, so the session went by without a hitch.

The session ended a few hours later, enough that the shifters felt a bit of fatigue, but nothing too serious. Alice was over talking with her family, and I was walking over to the rest of my pride when I realized that someone was behind me. Turning around, I saw Edward standing there, looking rather uncertain, one hand half raised towards me. As soon as I made eye contact, his hand dropped and he offered me a small smile.

"Edward." I greeted, trying to be polite.

"Hello Bella." He greeted back, his voice sounding a bit strained as well.

"Did you need something?" I asked him, figuring the shorter this conversation was the better.

"Yes. I was wondering if I could speak with you and Alice."

"Why?" I questioned him, my eyes narrowing slightly. The last time the three of us were in a room together he was yelling and throwing people out of windows.

"I promise that I won't be yelling or harming anyone." He told me with a small smile that almost seemed a little sad. "Please?"

I don't know if it was the expression on her face, or the fact that he was practically begging me, but something about his request had me believing him.

"Alright." I agreed, giving him a small smile back.

I turned to find Alice, only to see her watching the two of us intently, her lips turned down in a small frown. After a quick motion from me, Alice made her way over to the two of us quickly.

"Is everything okay?" Alice asked, glancing between the two of us.

"Yeah." I assured her, grabbing her hand, and felt her relax at the contact. "Edward wants to talk to us for a bit."

"Oh. Alright then."

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Kat shoot me a questioning glance. I nodded at her, signaling that I was fine, and she nodded back before turning to leave with the pride.

"So why did you want to talk to us?" Alice asked, pulling my attention back to the two vampires.

"To apologize." Edward stated. I'm sure my face reflected exactly what I thought of that, but he quickly went to elaborate. "I know that I will have to work towards any forgiveness you're willing to give me, but I want to try."

"I thought you said that you couldn't understand our relationship. How do you go from not accepting us to wanting us to forgive you?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"While I was away I had nothing but time to think about what happened, and I felt horrible. The separation from you probably helped to clear my head, acted to allow the vampire part of me to let you go. Once it was apparent that you didn't belong to me, so to say, the vampire started to let you go. So I could think about the situation clearly. It helped me to reflect on all that I had done wrong, and helped me realize all that I needed to make up for.

"Before I left you accused me of not wanting to work to fix anything. And at the time, it was true that I didn't think I was able to work to mend all I had broken, but now I think I am. I want to try and make up for everything that I have done to you, as much as I am physically able to.

"Now yes, the idea of two women together is still foreign to me, and a bit disconcerting, but if you two are truly in love, then who am I to say it's wrong? And how could I not want my sister and the girl I claimed to love to be happy?"

As he explained, I couldn't help but feel that he was being completely sincere. I found that I believed every word he was saying, even if I didn't really want to. Maybe it was the fact that we were going to be in a fight to the death in less than a week now, maybe it was something else. I really didn't care what the reason was. All I knew was that something told me that this was the truth, that he really did feel terrible, and that all he wanted was forgiveness.

"Bella?" Alice prompted me, noticing the look of concentration on my face.

"Right before you left, you apologized to me, and I told you that it actually meant a lot. That still stands. The fact that you can stand here and admit that you were wrong, that you can admit that you need to fix things, that means a whole hell of a lot. And it takes a strong person to be able to admit that they messed up. So while I may still be angry about the past, I accept your apology." I told him.

"And you Alice?" Edward turned to his sister hesitantly.

"You really regret everything you've done? Everything that you've said?" She asked him.

"Yes. I never wanted to push my family away. Alice, you know I love you, you're my sister. I'm sick that I let my instincts control me so drastically, that I even considered fighting you for anything." Edward told her, tears shining in his eyes.

"Then I forgive you. I didn't want to lose my brother any more than you wanted to lose your sister." Alice declared, pulling him into a hug.

After a moment, Alice unwrapped one of her arms and motioned for me to join the little family moment. And I'm glad to say I did, not a moment of hesitation.

Edward wanted to try to fix everything, so I'd give him the chance to. Not to mention, I knew that Alice missed her brother dearly; he was the one that was closest to her after all.

While we stood, all three of us huddled together, I couldn't help but feel optimistic for the future. Everything was going fantastic in the training, everyone was actually getting along, and now the Cullens were whole again.

But of course, only time would tell.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter's going to be the fight, then I think there's only going to be one or two more chapters to wrap everything up. I really want to try to get this finished before Friday, because that's when I go back to school, but I can't make any promises. And if anyone has any ideas for the big fight, I'm open to suggestions!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: You guys are lucky, I was my mother's chauffeur today, so I had to sit in two different doctors offices for about an hour and a half each. So I had plenty of time to write since I had internet.**

**Anyway, a few of you seemed a bit disappointed with how the Edward thing was handled. But keep this in mind: Bella said a voice in her head told her to believe him. That voice is her panther, which kind of acts as her conscience. And the panther will do anything to keep its mate happy, including forgiving Eddie so that Alice's family is whole again. Because that would make Alice happy. Because happy Alice equals happy Bella.**

* * *

The rest of the week passed in what seemed like a flash. We had our last few training sessions, talked a bit more strategy, and I even managed to spend some time with my dad, just in case anything were to happen to me. Of course, I made sure that he didn't know anything was up, but I think he could tell _something_ was wrong.

Of course, the afternoons with the Cullens continued, and during the time spent at the Cullen house, Edward tried to be involved in the "bonding". Now, it wasn't completely comfortable, I was still angry with him after all, but you had to give the guy credit for trying. I could tell the rest of the pride was still pissed at him as well, and they had the right to be, but no one wanted to cause any family problems at the moment, so they just let it go.

Eventually, our last week was up, and we were all standing in the clearing from Alice's vision, mentally preparing ourselves for the fight. Blood coated the trees and ground, just like I had suggested, and I could only hope that it helped. The wolves were hidden in the trees for an element of surprise, along with Rikki and Danni. The people from The Pit knew about Kat, so there was no point in her hiding, and since Victoria was coming for me I also got to stand front and center.

While everyone hidden was shifted and waiting, I was standing as a human, again, hoping that any surprise could act as an advantage for us. We didn't think Victoria knew I was a shifter, but we were just hoping at this point. Kat was also human, as she was hoping to talk to the shifters from The Pit if at all possible. She wanted to try to get them to fight the vampires, but she told us that is was very unlikely, and she didn't hold much hope for that idea.

I was fidgeting with the thick black band wrapped around my wrist as I stood there, my nerves starting to really take hold. Obviously noticing the fidgeting, Alice took one of my hands, and Kat took the other, effectively stopping my movements. I was glad that neither of them offered any false hope, or told me that it was going to be okay. I don't think I would have been able to handle that at this point. But the physical contact was enough comfort to keep the nerves at bay, for the time being at least.

Just when I thought I couldn't wait any longer, I picked up the faint noises of movement in the trees in front of us. So it wasn't much longer until Victoria was stepping into the clearing with only one other vampire at her side and a rather evil smirk on her face.

"It's nice to see you again Cullen coven." Victoria greeted.

"I'm sorry to say that we don't share your sentiment." Carlisle answered. "In fact, I think it would be best if you left now, and we avoided this entire confrontation."

Leave it to Carlisle to try to avoid any fighting, and to give the opponent a chance to back down. But this just made Victoria laugh and shake her head.

"Oh, I'd be glad to leave." Victoria announced. "All you have to do is hand over your little human pet. After all, you had the foresight to bring her. Do that, and I'll leave you in peace. And I'm going to need the blonde shifter girl as well."

"You know that's not an option." Carlisle frowned and informed her.

"Then I guess we're done talking."

At her statement, ten vampires walked out of the trees, all snarling and baring their teeth at our small group. Five of the vampires were holding thick silver chains, and when they were pulled, eleven sifters emerged from the trees. I guess one was lost on the journey here, but I didn't even want to consider how. A few seemed to be resisting the pulling, but a harsh command from the handlers had them walking forward to stand next to the vampires, and a moment later their snarling and growling joined the vampires'.

"You don't have to fight for them." Kat spoke up as soon as the shifters were visible. "You don't owe them anything."

"Oh, but Kitten, we're the reason they're not dead." A man spoke up, prompting two of the shifters to shuffle out of the way to let him through. "And if you'd come with me, I can guarantee that you won't die today with these vampires."

Looking at the man, he didn't seem to be anything special. Yes, he was attractive, but nothing too extreme. He was tall, and seemed to be well muscled. Shaggy dark hair framed his face, and two bright green eyes watched the now shuddering Alpha next to me. I figured that this was Jax, her old trainer, considering that he definitely wasn't a vampire, and he wasn't bound in any way.

Instead of answering him Kat just snarled in his direction, letting him know exactly what she thought of his offer.

"Fine, fine. I figured as much, but I thought I'd offer. You were the best after all." He shrugged and took a step back. "Have fun then."

"Last chance to give us what we want." Victoria spoke, pulling attention back to herself.

"Still no chance." Carlisle reiterated.

"Then it's time for you all to die."

And with that all hell seemed to break loose. The vampires rushed forward and the shifters were released. With a deafening roar, the shifters behind us revealed themselves, rushing forward with the Cullens. Kat leapt forward, shifting mid-air, and I was right behind her, landing on the ground on four paws.

The first body I hit was a shifter, a golden tiger who tried to rake its claws down my face. I quickly ducked under the claws and tackled the tiger, attempting to wrap my jaws around its neck. I managed to get a bit of a hold, but the beast reared back, causing my fangs to tear into the flesh as it moved, and making blood spurt from the bites. With a loud growl the enemy shifter was attacking me again, trying to get its own fangs into my pelt. It seemed like we were evenly matched though, so I managed to dodge the attack, only to have mine avoided a moment later.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a vampire rushing the two of us, and I could only hope it was a Cullen. Not really wanting to risk it, I leapt back, only to see a newborn go crashing into the side of the tiger a moment later. I don't know if the newborn was aiming for me, if its instincts were too much to ignore, or if someone threw the vampire into us, but all I know is, I got really lucky. As the vampire's body collided with the shifters, I heard a multitude of cracks as the bones in the shifter crumpled under the force. Once the shifter hit the floor it just stopped moving, and I could only hope it was dead.

Sadly, I could not say as much for the vampire, as it got up only a moment later and was charging me. It seemed that the female was right in regards to who she was supposed to be fighting this time. But the newborn probably wasn't counting on fighting a trained opponent, as her tactic was to simply leap into the air, aiming at my back. As her body sailed through the air, I reared up and slammed a paw into her, forcing her back onto the ground with a loud thump.

Before she could get back up, I pounced on her and began tearing at any skin I could get my teeth into. And in the process, I found out that vampires taste even worse than they smell, which is really saying something. Ignoring the foul taste, I managed to rip her head from her body, along with both her arms before I decided that I could move onto someone else.

However, before I could, I felt a solid weight crash into my haunch, and I was forced onto the ground on my back, exposing my vulnerable belly. Searching for my attacker, I saw it was a wolf shifter, and a very scrawny one at that. Its dark gray fur was almost all matted, and missing in places, exposing a multitude of scars.

It didn't seem to matter how gaunt it looked though, as it sunk its teeth into my back leg in a flash. I managed to kick it in the face with my other back leg, causing it to let go and allowing me to flip back over. But as I was trying to get back up it was jumping at me again, but a flash of russet slammed into it and saved me from having fangs embedded into my neck.

Sparing a quick glance, I saw that Jacob seemed to be taking care of the enemy shifter just fine and even had some back-up in Seth, so I looked around to see if anyone else needed help. A quick sweep revealed that everyone seemed to be holding their own.

The wolves were confusing their opponents by working together, any time one was in trouble another had its back, and they could attack as one force. The Cullens also seemed to be doing fine; each one able to outsmart any newborn they were facing. All in all, the worst injury in our ranks was a crack down Emmett's face and the bite wound on my leg.

However, as I was scanning the clearing, I didn't see Alice, and that had my panther in a state of panic. She definitely didn't like her mate missing in the middle of a huge fight, especially with the multitude of body parts on the ground. Before it became too much a problem, Alice just about popped up right in front of me, a big grin on her face.

She shot me a wink before jumping right back into the fray, and I followed her as quickly as I could. It proved unnecessary as she was basically playing with a particularly aggravated newborn who couldn't even land a single hit on her.

Dragging my attention from her, I focused on a newborn male who had been knocked back by one of my pride's back paws and almost into me. Wasting no time, I wrapped my jaws around the area where his shoulder met his neck and pulled back, taking a large chunk of flesh with me. In his agony he was an easy target to pull apart and was quickly eliminated.

Allowing myself a moment of grim satisfaction, I was pleasantly surprised at how well this whole fight was going. None of our own had sustained any major injuries, and I saw that the enemy numbers seemed to be dwindling rather rapidly now.

I was pulled out of that satisfaction a moment later when a flash of pain shot through the mental link. Looking up, I saw Rikki and Danni both fighting a rather large shifter that I think was a bear, but it was hard to tell through the mass of bodies in front of them. But I could see enough to tell that neither of them was hurt, meaning that the pain had to belong to Kat.

Searching the entire clearing, I found that I couldn't even find the dark-furred snow leopard, and that had me very concerned. Another flash of pain shot through the bond, which caused me to back out of the fight. I needed to find Kat, and I needed to find her fast.

Figuring the only place she could have gone was into the trees, that's where I headed. Once out of the massive group of bodies I could use my nose, and after a large sniff, I could smell a faint trace of shifter, along with the scent of vampire. If anything, now I was panicking even more. Allowing my anxiety to drive me, I ran as quickly as I could while tracking the scent of my missing Alpha. The trail led me towards the mountains that shadowed the clearing, and eventually I made it to the base of one of the peaks and that's when I found my Alpha.

Kat was clearly favoring one of her front paws, had one of her back legs completely off of the ground with blood dripping steadily from it. She also had blood coating a good portion of her fur, which I could only pray didn't all belong to her. But what had me even more concerned was the fact that Jax was standing there with her, pointing a rather large and strange looking gun straight at her.

I let loose a roar, trying to pry his attention off of her and onto me, but I was only met with a laugh. Sadly, that laugh didn't come from Jax, but from a much higher and more feminine voice to my left. Glancing over, I saw Victoria, pushing a now bound Alice in front of her. Sure, Alice was putting up a fight, but with her hands bound in a material she apparently couldn't break, she didn't have much of a chance.

I had no idea how that bitch had gotten to Alice, considering she was fine just a minute ago, but I had a horrible feeling in my gut that I knew where this was going.

"Well, isn't this quite the dilemma?" Victoria chuckled, the noise filling me with a deep hatred for this creature. She didn't even register as a person to my mind, which was slowly being taken over by the panther.

"Choosing between your Alpha and your mate. Quite a shame you can't save them both." Jax called out, never taking his eyes off of Kat. She tensed up slightly, no doubt to leap at him, but he snapped at her before she could. "I wouldn't Kitten. See the shells in this gun are filled with concentrated Wolfsbane, and a good amount of silver shavings. Not a good combination for a shifter, huh? Not to mention the large bullet hole it leaves in your worthless pelt, as you would know from that back leg of yours. One move and I pull the trigger. And this time I hit something much more important."

A gasp from Alice pulled my attention from my growling Alpha to the vampire holding my mate hostage. She had both of her hands wrapped around Alice's neck and was squeezing hard enough to cause cracks to form in the flawless skin.

"See, while I was away, I had time to think about this whole situation. I realized that maybe I was being a bit too hard on Edward. He was just trying to keep his little human safe. And James did get a bit obsessive sometimes. But you needed to be punished. You need to be shown what happens when a human dabbles in the world of the supernatural, even if you're a shifter now.

"So this is how I punish you. By taking away something you love. Just like you took away something I loved. See, I knew that the attack on all of you would fail, but I also knew that I could get at least one person you care about before everything was over. I don't really care which one it is, but it will be one of them.

"So who's it going to be Bella?" Victoria asked, cocking her head to the side and allowing a victorious grin to spread across her face.

_"If you don't save your mate, I will personally kill you."_ Kat's voice rang clear in my head, though the pain in it was obvious.

_Then you die._ I almost whimpered at the thought. But even the brief thought that Alice could die had me basically dying inside.

_"Then so be it, I'm living on borrowed time anyway." It was nice having you as my Beta, and as my friend."_

Steeling myself for the inevitable, I leapt at Victoria, but not before Kat jumped at Jax. Her snarl, and the resulting shot had Victoria distracted for a brief second, which allowed Alice to slam her foot into the redhead's shin. This caused Victoria to let Alice go, and the tiny pixie dropped to the floor just in time for me to slam into Victoria and start ripping into her with a ferocity that she wasn't expecting. In fact, Victoria was nothing but a pile of scraps in under a minute, and I was able to turn my attention solely on Kat.

Looking over, I was devastated to see that Kat wasn't moving; however, she'd be proud to know that she had managed to crush Jax under her massive form, and even managed to get her claws into him.

Walking up to her slowly, I nudged her form with my nose, trying to rouse her. Not getting a response, I tried pushing her harder and chirping at her as well. Still getting no response, and not seeing the rise and fall of her chest, I buried my snout in her fur and allowed the sorrow I was feeling to grip me completely. Alice, still with her hands bound behind her back, simply kneeled at the side of Kat's form and leaned into my front leg.

_"Bella? What's going on?"_ Danni asked me through the bond, probably in response to the depression flowing though my head.

_"Dear Goddess, what happened? Where are you? And what were you and Kat talking about?"_ Rikki asked a moment later. It was obvious that the two were panicking at this point.

_I'm at the base of a mountain. Kat… she's…_ I couldn't even tell them what happened; instead I just waited for them to inevitably find us.

A moment later I heard the footfalls of my pride mates, and heard the yowls of surprise and grief that quickly followed. I didn't even look up, but I was sure the two other big cats were mirroring my actions as soon as they approached the form of our fallen Alpha.

_"She's really gone…"_ Danni murmured.

_"It's stupid, but I really thought nothing would ever take her from us."_ Rikki said a moment later.

I couldn't help but agree with the two. Kat always seemed so strong, it always seemed like nothing could ever hurt her. I mean, she leapt at a werewolf like it was nothing. Her whole life she proved she was a fighter, that she would never let anything stop her. But now…

_"You're all… smothering... me."_ A very faint voice, that sounded just like Kat's, flittered through my head.

Rearing back in surprise, I looked down to see Kat's eyes open and staring right at me. I even noticed that her chest was rising, though it seemed to be quite the task for her. And somehow, that fuzzy snow leopard face was smirking at me once again.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I do apologize for the wait, I blame college.**

**But I won't bore you with further excuses. We finally made it to the end! Part of me still doesn't believe it... I want to thank all of you that have read this story, reviewed it, followed and favorited it. It encouraged me to finish (however slowly), so I want to thank you all profusely.**

**If any of you also read my Vriskan fics, I am going to start working on Rehabilitation again, but I won't promise a speedy update. I'm going to take a little break, and try to get back into that story. But it WILL be finished. I promise.**

**But, without further ado, here's the end of Panthera.**

* * *

As terrible as it sounds, Kat picked a very good time to get shot. Later I was told that just as I was running to find her, the rest of our group was just finishing up with the newborns and enemy shifters in the clearing.

So it wasn't even a minute after I realized that Kat was still alive until Carlisle was right next to her, instructing Alice to bring her to their house while he got supplies from the hospital.

Realizing that Alice may have a bit of trouble holding a five foot-tall feline, Kat tried to shift back. Only this time, the usually effortless shift was accompanied by a multitude of hisses, gasps, and yelps of pain. The second Kat was fully human again, she fell into unconsciousness, prompting Alice to pick up the taller girl and run at full speed towards the Cullen house.

Rikki, Danni, and I all ran right on Alice's heels, not wanting to let our Alpha out of our sight. Once we actually reached the house we had a small problem. None of our large frames could fit through the door. Not really thinking, and wanting to make sure Kat was okay, I shifted back and entered the house, quickly followed by both of my pride mates.

Once in human form I saw Danni wiping a small cut that spanned the bridge of her nose, and Rikki idly running a hand over a bruised shoulder, but that seemed to be the worst of their injuries. After taking a brief moment to sigh in relief, I turned my attention back to finding Kat.

Following the scent of the blonde feline shifter, and of blood, I entered the room just as Alice was lying the blonde girl on an operating table set up in a spare room. I guess Carlisle was anticipating having to patch a few of us up considering there were three other tables set up in the space.

Speaking of the vampire doctor, Carlisle appeared a moment later and rushed straight to Kat's side, scanning over her battered body and taking in the extent of her injuries.

"I'll get started on closing her wounds, but I think she's going to need blood. She's lost too much, and I don't believe that she can regenerate an adequate amount quickly enough." Carlisle spoke as he pulled out the necessary equipment to mend Kat's injuries.

"We're the same blood type. I can give her some." Rikki spoke up immediately, still watching our Alpha with concern.

"Alice, take Rikki and start taking her blood." Carlisle directed.

The two left the room, Rikki looking over her shoulder right before she stepped through the door, her mouth moving in what I assumed was a prayer for her friend.

"I know the two of you want to make sure that Katherine is okay, but hovering won't help." Carlisle informed the two of us still in the room. "I have a strong feeling Leah will be here soon, but I need someone to stop her from barging in here. The less distractions I have, the better chance I have at keeping Katherine alive." He paused and glanced over his shoulder quickly. "That, and the two of you may want to cover up with something."

"I'll grab something from upstairs, you keep Leah as calm as you can." I told Danni before jogging upstairs.

Not wanting to waste any time, I just grabbed a couple robes I found hanging in a bathroom closet and headed back downstairs. Just as my foot hit the bottom step I heard the muffled sounds of sobbing, and upon further inspection, found Leah being held back by Danni, staring into the room Kat was currently in.

"She's going to be okay Leah." I told the native girl as I handed her a robe, considering she was just as naked as us. I handed Danni one as well as soon as Leah stopped trying to get past her.

"She has to be. I can't loose her." Leah managed to rasp out.

"Trust me when I say, all of us feel the same way." Danni insisted, hugging the taller girl tightly before letting her go. "But you know that rushing in there won't help anything."

"I know, but how would you feel if it was Rikki on that table?" Leah shot back, still staring into the room as if she were going to just leap over Danni and to her mate's side.

"I would want to be in there." Danni admitted. "But I would know I couldn't do anything."

"So I just wait?"

"That's exactly what we have to do." I affirmed, guiding her out of the hallway. "Danni," I turned to look at my smallest pride mate, "can you take a robe to Rikki?"

With a nod Danni grabbed the last robe and went to find Rikki, and I guided Leah to the living room, sending my own prayer to whoever was listening.

**XXXXX**

The next few hours were spent in a very tense silence. Eventually the rest of the Cullens reappeared, but sensed the tension in the room, and therefore left us alone. A few of the wolves joined us as well, Seth being one of them, and he immediately rushed to his sister's side to offer her some support. A bit after that, Rikki came into the room, looking a bit pale as she stumbled over to the couch by Danni.

"How much blood did you give?" Danni asked, distressed by her mate's haggard appearance.

"As much as I could without dropping." Rikki answered, allowing her head to fall back against the couch. A moment later she pulled Danni to her and a soft snoring began.

"I wanted to stop after two pints, but she made me take three. Then another half 'just in case', as she put it." Alice told Danni as she walked in and sat next to me.

"Is that safe?" Danni asked, trying to maneuver herself to look at the vampire.

"She won't die, but she'll be dizzy and weak for a while. You should get her to eat something as soon as you can." Alice told the lioness while running a hand through her already disheveled hair.

"That won't be a problem." Danni said with a small smile, glancing back up at Rikki.

"Now we need to get your leg bandaged until Carlisle can stich it up." Alice told me, getting up once again.

Looking down, I hadn't even realized that blood was still trickling from the bite that wolf gave me, but I did feel a little bad at the small puddle now staining the carpet.

Before I knew it, Alice was keeling by me, wrapping a white bandage tight around my calf. She looked worried as the white slowly turned pink, then red, but I assured her that I was fine, and that I could wait until Carlisle was done with Kat.

**XXXXX**

The moment Carlisle stepped into our little waiting area everyone was on their feet. Of course, everyone but Rikki, who was roused from her sleep, but even she managed to sit up straight to listen to the vampire.

"Is she going to be okay?" Leah practically ran up to Carlisle and asked him.

"Katherine will be fine. As far as I could tell, there is no permanent damage to her leg, and the shot through her hip didn't hit any vital organs." Carlisle told the wolf shifter with a smile. "She's going to have to recover from a few broken bones, but I have a feeling that she'll have no problems with that."

"Can I see her?" Leah's next question came hesitantly, but when the blonde man nodded she didn't hesitate to run off in the direction of the room Kat was in.

"Carlisle, can you take a look at Bella's leg?" Alice asked her father as soon as Leah left. "I think she's going to need stiches."

"Of course. Come on Bella." Carlisle motioned for me to follow him.

Hesitating for a moment, I almost refused, just to see Kat and make sure that she was okay, but I knew that was going to be a losing battle. Neither Alice nor Carlisle was going to let me walk around any longer with a bleeding leg, so I just nodded and followed him out of the room.

However, my worry was pointless, as Carlisle actually led me to the room containing the hospital beds, and therefore Kat. Briefly glancing over as I took my own bed, I saw that she seemed to be peacefully sleeping, an IV pumping blood back into her system, and Leah holding onto her hand and stroking her hair every so often.

"Now let's see what I'm working with." Carlisle's voice pulled my attention away from the unconscious Alpha and back to my own injuries, and to Alice, who of course had followed me into the room.

"It's really not that bad. I mean, I managed to run all the way back here, didn't I?" I dismissed as he unwrapped the bandage from my calf.

"That probably wasn't the best idea." Carlisle murmured as he examined the torn tissues of my leg. "These punctures are actually pretty deep, and there's some tearing of your muscles."

"What does that mean for my leg?" I asked, a bit apprehensive for the answer.

"With your healing abilities, probably not much." He looked up and gave me a bright smile. "But I still want you to stay off of it for a few days. A week if at all possible."

"Is that necessary?" I grimaced.

"Yes."

"Then she'll do it." Alice told her father, but focused a stern look on me. Knowing that look, I just sighed and nodded, indicating that I'd follow the instructions.

With a satisfied smile, Carlisle began the process of cleaning my leg, then the slightly more painful process of stitching the gashes. Once that was done, he wrapped the now-stitched area with a new bandage and instructed me to wait there for a few moments. Before I could even be confused as to why, he was back, holding two pairs of crutches.

"Really?" I groaned at the thought of hobbling around all week.

He just smirked at my reaction. "Think of it as a bonding activity. You and Katherine can both curse my name for making you use them."

**XXXX**

As much as it pained me, I did use the crutches for a full week, as per Carlisle's instructions. And just as he predicted, both Kat and I were calling him every horrible name we could think of as we learned to maneuver on one leg.

But thankfully, that week did end, and I was given permission to walk on my own two legs once again. I'd never actually admit it, but Carlisle was probably right, considering my leg was still a bit tender to walk on, even a week later.

However, poor Kat, with the gunshot wounds both on the left side of her body, had to stay on the crutches for a while longer. I don't know how much she actually minded though, considering Leah was constantly by her side, making sure that the blonde girl had anything and everything she could need.

Thinking back on these past few months, I couldn't help but feel like my life was going pretty good right now. We had beaten the newborns and Victoria, along with the shifters that had all come to kill us. That meant I no longer had a crazy vampire out to kill me, and Kat was free of her trainer, and the monsters that wanted to own her. Which meant that our pride was free of any immediate threats, and could just focus on healing up, and being together.

Along with that, I now had a wonderful girlfriend, who I knew that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. That and a second, but rather unconventional family that had welcomed not only me, but the rest of the pride into it with open arms. Sometimes I still couldn't believe all that had happened, but I knew I wouldn't change a second of it.

But there was still one thing that I needed to take care of to make sure that I could be happy in Forks. Which was why I currently standing outside of my father's house, one hand raised to knock on the door, and the other being held in a death grip by Alice.

"Why are you crushing my hand?" I raised an eyebrow at her. I was the one who was supposed to be nervous after all.

"Forgive me for being a bit apprehensive." Alice pouted and stared at the door. "Your father owns a shotgun. And I have a feeling that he doesn't mind threatening people with it."

"A bullet wouldn't even hurt you." I deadpanned.

"Yes, but getting shot isn't exactly on my to-do list for today." Alice grumbled.

"Oh man up." I chuckled at her.

"I thought you liked me because I was tiny, adorable, and feminine." Alice looked at me with an expression halfway between confusion and sadness. However, the façade broke when she began giggling uncontrollably.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to the door. Steeling myself, I raised my hand and knocked on the wood, holding my breath until the door actually opened.

Charlie opened the door just a fraction, but threw it open as soon as he saw me. "Bells? What are you-"

Upon seeing Alice standing slightly behind me, his question trailed off and he simply stared at the pale girl.

"Alice?"

"Hi Charlie." Alice offered my dad a smile and a small wave.

"What are you two doing here?" Charlie asked, glancing between both of us.

"I wanted to talk to you, and Alice decided she needed to come along." I told him, grinning down at Alice.

"I didn't realize that you had started spending time with the Cullens again." Charlie rumbled. "Are you sure that's a good idea."

"I'm fine Charlie. I promise you, I'm fine." I assured him. "But can we come in?"

"Oh, right." He stepped aside and let the two of us walk into the house. We were then led into the living room, and I had a flash of déjà vu, for when I told him I was dating Kat, then later telling him I wasn't. I guess this was just turning into the relationship room.

Laughing quietly to myself and shaking that though, I went to sit on the couch, pulling Alice down with me.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about, Bella?" Charlie asked as he situated himself in his chair.

"Well…" I hesitated, then made up my mind. There was no sense in delaying the inevitable after all. "I'm just going to come out and say it. Dad, I'm dating Alice."

My statement was met with silence all around, my dad glancing between Alice and I, and Alice staring at me with her mouth partially open. I guess no one was expecting me to just blurt it out so quickly.

"Well, I have to admit, you managed to get that out much quicker than last time." Charlie finally managed to get out with a weak smile. I couldn't help but smile as well, recalling that it took a full ten minutes to tell him that I was dating Kat.

"I've kind of had time to improve." I mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

"How long now?" Charlie asked, the underlying question obvious. He wanted to know if I left Kat for Alice.

I hesitated in answering the question. On one hand, I could be honest, but then it did look like I had just dumped Kat to date Alice. On the other hand, I was a terrible liar.

"If I may," Alice spoke up, effectively saving me, "I realize that you're worried about the time between Bella's two relationships. But I can assure you, Bella and Kat were broken up before Bella and I even began reestablishing our friendship. Things just kind of grew from there. I don't think either of us could give you a span of time, considering neither of us is really sure when we began to realize our romantic feelings for one another."

_Geez, how did she manage to put it so eloquently?_ But I had to admit, she made the situation sound as best as it could, without actually telling Charlie what happened. She even managed to fit as much of the truth in there as she could, minus the last part, considering the feelings were always romantic.

"Bella?" Charlie looked to me, obviously wanting my input on the topic.

"She's right Dad. Kat and I broke up before the Cullens came back, and I turned to Alice as a friend to help me through that. And like she said, things just kind of progressed from there." I shrugged. "But believe me when I say, I really love her Dad. She makes me happier than I have been in a long time."

"If your sure." Charlie said, not sounding entirely convinced.

"I am. Remember when I told you why I broke up with Kat? I told you that I just couldn't love her the way she deserved. I know why now. It was because I was meant to love someone else. I was meant to give my heart to Alice, just like Kat was meant to find someone else to share everything with." I told him, trying to express all that I was feeling with my words.

"Then I'm happy for you." He paused and looked at Alice. "I'm happy for both of you. I'll be honest, I've always liked you better than your brother, and I'm happy it's you and not him." He grinned at the small vampire beside me.

"Trust me, I'm happy that it's me too." Alice beamed back.

"So," he turned back to me, "Kat found her someone special then?"

"For God's sake," I made sure to not slip up and use 'goddess' in front of my dad, "you two always loved to gossip. You're both like old women." I laughed.

"What? She was a nice girl." Charlie shrugged and smiled.

I just laughed and shook my head. Hell, nothing could irritate me now. Everything was going to be fine, everyone was going to recover, and we were all going to live on. One big happy, really messed up family. And that made me grin and pull my mate closer. Yes, everything was going to be great.


End file.
